Tablet-based cognitive behavioral intervention to improve arthritis associated fatigue: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Behavioral Science
• Digital Health

Background:

• Older adults often experience decreased physical activity and increased fatigue.
• Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBI) show promise in managing health behaviors.
• Tablet-based interventions offer accessible delivery methods for health programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a tablet-based CBI (Tab-CBI) on daily steps, fatigue, and self-efficacy in older adults.
• To assess the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of integrating walking with CBI via a tablet.

Main Methods:

• Pilot study utilizing a pretest-posttest repeated measures design.
• 24 older adults were assigned to either the Tab-CBI group or a comparison group.
• Measurements included daily steps, PROMIS Fatigue, and PROMIS Self-efficacy at baseline, week 4, and week 6.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in daily steps were observed over time and between groups (p=0.048).
• PROMIS Fatigue scores improved significantly over time (p=0.04), but not between groups (p=0.09).
• PROMIS Self-efficacy scores showed significant improvement over time (p=0.04), with no significant group difference (p=0.90).

Conclusions:

• Tab-CBI demonstrates preliminary positive effects on daily steps and fatigue in older adults.
• The intervention shows potential for improving health behaviors through accessible technology.
• Further research with larger sample sizes is warranted to confirm these findings.