Comparative effectiveness of school- and office-based technology-enhanced interventions for physical activity...

School students and office workers can have higher levels of physical inactivity. Comparative effectiveness of interventions that use technology-based strategies to promote physical activity (PA) between these two populations is lacking. The purpose of this review was to compare effectiveness of technology-based interventions to promote PA in school and office settings.

A literature search was conducted from each database's inception with no place restriction using PubMed/MEDLINE (1946), Scopus (2004), Web of Science (1964), Embase (1974), and Cochrane Library (1995) through January 1st, 2025. Inclusion criteria included randomized controlled trials examining school-aged children/adolescents or adult office workers participating in a technology-based intervention to promote PA. Effectiveness was examined using random-effects meta-analyses.

Ten school-based and five office-based studies were examined. Two of 10 (20%) school-based studies and two of five (40%) office-based studies showed high risk of bias. There was a significant but small positive effect for school-based interventions to improve PA (Hedges' g = 0.35, 95%CI [0.02, 0.68]) but not for office-based interventions (Hedges' g = 0.07, 95%CI [-0.19, 0.33]).

School-based interventions using technology showed a small positive effect for improving PA. More novel, undisruptive, and effective strategies using technology should be derived and rigorously tested in school and office settings.