Audio vs text produce-app RCT
A tailored mobile app’s audio messages raised fruit intake more than text or control, while vegetable intake showed no overall main effect.
Source
A Mobile Phone App Intervention Targeting Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: The Efficacy of Textual and Auditory Tailored Health Information Tested in a Randomized Controlled Trial
Study at a glance
- Design
- RCT — Three-arm RCT: text-tailored vs audio-tailored vs questionnaire control
- N
- N=146 · Final analytic sample
- Population
- Adults using a fruit-and-vegetable mobile app intervention
- Outcome
- Fruit and vegetable intake at 6 months
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Audio vs text produce-app RCT
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Final analytic sample was 146 respondents (73.3% female).
The final sample for the analyses consisted of 146 respondents of whom 73.3% were females (n=107), 71.2% were highly educated (n=104), varied in age from 16 to 71 years (mean 41.4, SD 14.6), and with a mean BMI of 25.2 (SD 5.5).
Audio messaging raised fruit intake by a mean of three pieces per week.
The auditory mode of communication, but not the textual mode of communication, led to increased fruit consumption with a mean increase of three pieces of fruit a week.
What they did
Adults were randomized to text-based tailored app content, audio-based tailored content, or control questionnaires only; fruit and vegetable intake were assessed at 6 months.
What they found
Audio coaching increased fruit intake by about three pieces per week versus text and control; vegetable intake had no significant main effect of condition (literacy interactions noted).
The limits
What it doesn't show
Effects were modest, sample attrition was high, and findings may not generalize beyond motivated app users.
Key terms
- Tailoring
- Personalizing health messages to individual intake and characteristics.
- mHealth app
- Smartphone application delivering health behaviour content.
- Audio-based messaging
- Spoken tailored feedback rather than on-screen text.
- Health literacy
- Ability to obtain and use health information; tested as a moderator.
- Intention-to-treat
- Analyzing participants by assigned arm regardless of dropout.
- Control condition
- Baseline/posttest measures without tailored app content.
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Design?
Common questions
What conditions were compared?
Text-tailored app, audio-tailored app, and no-content control.
What clearly improved?
Fruit intake with the audio arm (~3 pieces/week).
Did vegetables change overall?
No significant main effect of condition on vegetable intake.
Analytic sample size?
146 respondents completing analyses (many highly educated women).
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