The cognitive-affective impact of receiving multidimensional physical activity feedback

Purpose: Novel physical activity (PA) monitoring technologies can accurately capture the various dimensions of PA that are important for health. Presenting complex multi-dimensional PA feedback is potentially challenging. In this study, we generated personalised PA profiles and explored the impact of receiving rich visual informational feedback in terms of educational and motivational properties and cognitive-affective responses. Methods: Healthcare Professionals (HCPs: GPs, nurses and health trainers; n=15) and 40-70 year old male and female patients considered at risk of future chronic disease (as identified by the NHS Health Check; n=30) were provided with visual feedback depicting their personalised PA data. One-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore their attitudes towards physical activity and their responses to seeing personalised feedback. Thematic analysis was used to identify main themes and interpret the data. Results: Both HCPs and patients found that personalised PA profiles were both informative and motivational. Patients highlighted that the feedback enhanced their understanding of their own PA and in many cases were surprised by the discrepancy between their perceived and objectively measured PA levels. Participants who observed low activity levels, high sedentary time and missed PA recommendations generally expressed disappointment upon seeing their data and an instant desire to positively change their behaviour. Participants that were shown to have surpassed PA recommendations expressed feelings of pleasure and reassurance. Conclusions: Technology-enabled personalised visual PA feedback and profiles appear to be informative and motivational for Patients and Healthcare Professionals. This approach represents a promising tool for behaviour change interventions targeting physical activity.