ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03440580Updated Sep 3, 2020

BOOSTH: Promoting Physical Activity in Primary Schools in Combination With Serious Gaming

An interventional study of BOOSTH in Physical Activity, Serious Game and Child Behavior, sponsored by Maastricht University Medical Center. Completed at 1 site in Netherlands. Open to participants aged 7 Years to 13 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-09-03.

Primary conditionChild BehaviorRegistry: Motor ActivityReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Motor Activity — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Child Behavior
Why
  1. Motor Activity is a broad heading, used only when no more specific condition is named.
  2. The study's listed conditions name Child Behavior.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by Maastricht University Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
713
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
7 Years to 13 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Physical inactivity is considered to be one of the ten principal risk factors for death worldwide. Children need to perform one hour of daily moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity whereof at least twice a week these activities are of vigorous intensity. In 2010, the percentage of 4-11 year-old normoactive Dutch children was approximately 20%.Previous interventions that aimed to increase childhood physical activity produced small to negligible effects. One possible explanation is that individuals were not intrinsically motivated towards physical activity during the intervention period. Children spend a substantial amount of their time behind a game consule. There are a number of applications that motivate increase in physical activity in a fun way through engaging individuals in games that mix real and computing worlds. These games became known as serious games. In this study we want to investigate if the incorporation of a serious game BOOSTH in combination with an activity tracker and battle to stimulate physical activity behaviour in primary school children (grades 5th to 7th).

Read the detailed description

The study design will be a randomized controlled trial regarding a physical activity intervention. A 1:1 randomization will be applied with intervention schools and matched control schools. The intervention school will recieve the BOOSTH intervention. The intervention duration is 6 months. Measurements will be performed at baseline and 3, 6 and 12 months after the start.

The investigational treatment is the BOOSTH physical activity intervention. Children in the intervention school will start with the BOOSTH intervention on top of the regular PE lessons. The child will receive the BOOSTH activity tracker. The child (under supervision of the teacher) needs to download the BOOSTH sync app and the BOOSTH game app. Therefore it is important that the school works with a device with Bluetooth. We will create a login account for each child. After installing the apps, the activity tracker measures step counts, which are translated into activity points. These activity points will be used to unlock levels in the BOOSTH game app. The child synchronizes their activity points, with Bluetooth connection, in the BOOSTH sync app and immediately the child can open the BOOSTH game app to play a level in the game. The child needs seven green lights (corresponding to 30 minutes of performed physical activity) to unlock a level in the game. The first four levels are for free, to gain the interests of the child, but thereafter the child needs to be physically active to unlock the rest of the levels in the game.

02

Conditions studied

  • Physical Activity
  • Serious Game
  • Child Behavior
  • School Intervention

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Keywords

  • physical activity
  • serious game
  • school intervention
  • children
03

In context

Child Behavior Reclassified

224 studies on the registry are indexed under Child Behavior; 41 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 713 is above the median of 140 across 197 interventional studies indexed under Child Behavior.

Browse Child Behavior studies →

Lead sponsor

Maastricht University Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 853 studies on the registry; 114 are open to participants now.

Compared within Child Behavior, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Motor Activity. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
7 Years to 13 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria:

  • The school needs to be located in the Limburg- region of the Netherlands.
  • At least 25 students enrolled in grades 5, 6 and 7
  • The school works with a technological device with Bluetooth option to synchronize activity points
  • Boys and girls, in 5th to 7th grade
  • signed by both parents and children aged 12 years and older.

Exlusion criteria

  • Children who are wheelchair dependent.
  • The school has plans to merge with another school or plans to relocate in the upcoming year.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
713 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Intervention

    The intervention school will receive the BOOSTH intervention: Boosth activity tracker, Boosth sync app, Boosht game app

    Device: BOOSTH

  • No intervention
    control group

    The control school will receive the standard curriculum. After the study is finished the children of the control school will receive the Boosth product

Interventions

  • DeviceBOOSTH

    BOOSTH as a serious game is used as a tool to motivate children to perform more PA. BOOSTH uses the combination of a smartphone game and a pedometer that assesses daily PA by measuring steps/day. The BOOSTH activity monitor is a wrist-worn activity monitor that is able to provide online feedback on the child's PA levels. Moreover, BOOSTH is a reward-based game as a child is given incentive to increase their PA level, in order to acquire activity points which later can be used to unlock levels and progress in the BOOSTH game.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. moderate to vigorous physical activity (min/day)

    change in moderate to vigorous physical activity (min/day) as measured with accelerometry

    Time frame: up to twelve months

Secondary outcomes

  1. change in step count

    step count as measured with the Boosth activity tracker

    Time frame: up to twelve months

  2. change in physical activity behaviour

    subjectively measured physical activity behaviour with BAECKE questionnaire. BAECKE (for children) will be used to assess the amount of habitual PA ranging from 1 (lowest activity) to 5 (highest activity). Physical activity at school, during leisure time and organized sports will be asked.

    Time frame: up to twelve months

  3. BMI-z score

    change in BMI- z score. BMI is calculated as weight (kilograms) divided by height (meters) squared. for children the BMI threshold of obesity varies with age and sex.

    Time frame: up to twelve months

  4. motivation towards physical activity

    motivation towards physical activity as measured with BREQ questionnaire. The BREQ2 is a self-administered questionnaire about a motivation continuum towards PA. The BREQ2 measures external, introjected, identified, integrated and intrinsic forms of motivation of PA behavior. The questionnaire consists of 19 thesis's on a 5-point Likert scale, providing subscores for all forms of regulation. The BREQ2 is a self-administered questionnaire about a motivation continuum towards PA. The BREQ2 measures external, introjected, identified, integrated and intrinsic forms of motivation of PA behavior. The questionnaire consists of 19 thesis's on a 5-point Likert scale, providing subscores for all forms of regulation.

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline,3-, 6- and 12 months)

  5. screen-time

    screen- time as measured with questionnaire. Self-reported screen time will be reported separately for weekday and weekend day assessed with the following questions: 'How many hours a day during the last 4 weeks you watched TV on a normal weekday/weekend?' and 'How many hours a day during the last 4 weeks have you played console games or used a computer for your free time activities on a normal weekday/weekend? Possible responses are: 'not at all', '0.5 hours per day', 'one hour per day', '2 hours per day', '2.5 hours per day', '3 hours per day', '3.5 hours per day', '4 hours or more per day'. Total screen time was calculated by summing minutes spent in TV watching and computer use.

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline,3-, 6- and 12 months)

  6. Quality of life (Kidscreen)

    Quality of life as measured with Kidscreen. The Kidsreen instruments assess children's and adolescents' subjective health and well-being. They were developed as self-report measures applicable for healthy and chronically ill children and adolescents aged from 8 to 18 years. The Kidsscreen-27 version provides a global health related quality of life score and consists of 27 questions.Higher scores represent a better quality of life

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline,3-, 6- and 12 months)

  7. Quality of life (PedsQL)

    Quality of life as measured with PedsQL questionnaire. The 23-item PedsQL Generic Core Scales were designed to measure the core dimensions of health as delineated by the World Health Organization, as well as role (school) functioning. The 4 Multidimensional Scales are: physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning and school functioning. Summary scores will be calculated for total scale score, physical health summary score and psychosocial health summary score.

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline,3-, 6- and 12 months)

  8. Cardiovascular alterations (Pulse Wave Velocity)

    pulse wave velocity (PWV). will be measured using a SphygmoCor (CPV) device. Carotidfemoral (cf) as well as -radial (cr) PWV will be measured. Measurement of cr PWV in addition to cf PWV is no extra burden to the subjects and will take only a few extra minutes. Obtained waveforms are processed with dedicated software (SphygmoCor version 7, AtCor).

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline and 12 months)

  9. Blood pressure

    blood pressure. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be measured using a validated automatic device on the right arm after 5-10 minutes rest in a resting position. The measurement is taken three times with a 1 minute rest between, and the reading is recorded to the nearest 1 mmHg. A mean value of these three readings is used

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline and 12 months)

  10. Cardiovascular alterations (retinal image)

    Retinal image. Children are seated with the head resting on a chinrest, looking directly into the camera (Topcon TRC-NW-300, Topcon Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). The fundus camera will focus on and take a picture of the retina. The total procedure will take about 2 minutes. Images will be digitised and analysed to calculate the arteriovenous ratio (AVratio) with the appropriate software (Generalized Dual-Bootstrap Iterative Closest Point (GDB-ICP)) that is able to automatically initialise and individually match vascular landmarks. In addition, the software will be used to measure the diameter of the four largest retinal arterioles and venules

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline and 12 months)

  11. Aerobic fitness

    aerobic fitness as measured with the 20m shuttle run test

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline and 12 months)

Other outcomes

  1. Comprehensive General Parenting Questionnaire

    Parenting style as measured with CGPQ. The 85 item Comprehensive General Parenting Questionnaire (CGPQ) will be used to assess general parenting on a five - factor parenting model. This questionnaire is validated with Dutch parents questionnaire.

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline and 6 months)

  2. parenting practices questionnaire

    Parenting style as measured with parenting practices questionnaire. The physical activity parenting practice questionnaire assess parents practice style regarding physical activity and sedentary behavior. The questionnaire consists of 5 questions on a 5point scale.

    Time frame: up to twelve months (measurement at baseline and 6 months)

  3. Process evaluation

    Process evaluation Semi- structured focus groups will be caried out with teachers from the intervention schools. The interview covers all aspects of the intervention, including the measurements, introduction lesson of Boosth, the intervention and the follow up. Interviews will be recorded. Booking logs: will be used to assess intervention reach and dose. Evaluation questionnaire: children and their parents will fill in an evaluation questionnaire about the use of BOOSTH. Teachers will fill in an evaluation questionnaire about the methods and implementation about the BOOSTH intervention. Teachers of the control school will fill in an questionnaire to find out whether any unplanned intervention may contaminated the evaluation.

    Time frame: up to 6 months (measurement at 3- and 6 months)

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Maastricht University Medical Center
    Maastricht, Limburg 6229HX, Netherlands
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Neil-Sztramko SE, Caldwell H, Dobbins M. School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Sep 23;9(9):CD007651. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007651.pub3. PubMed 34555181 ↗
  • Velde GT, Plasqui G, Willeboordse M, Winkens B, Vreugdenhil A. Associations between physical activity, sedentary time and cardiovascular risk factors among Dutch children. PLoS One. 2021 Aug 27;16(8):e0256448. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256448. eCollection 2021. PubMed 34449807 ↗
  • Ten Velde G, Plasqui G, Willeboordse M, Winkens B, Vreugdenhil A. Feasibility and Effect of the Exergame BOOSTH Introduced to Improve Physical Activity and Health in Children: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Dec 11;9(12):e24035. doi: 10.2196/24035. PubMed 33306031 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Aug 2018 to primary completion in Jul 2020, 22 months.

Of 140 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Child Behavior, half reached primary completion within 20 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 42. This study's 22 months is close to that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 141 studies reached it within 20 months; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 41.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jan 30, 2018
First posted
Feb 22, 2018
StartActual
Aug 17, 2018
Primary completionActual
Jul 1, 2020
CompletionActual
Jul 1, 2020
Last update
Sep 3, 2020
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 3, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03440580
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 22, 2018
Start date
Aug 17, 2018
Primary completion
Jul 1, 2020
Completion
Jul 1, 2020
Last update
Sep 3, 2020

Study contacts

Anita Vreugdenhil, Dr
study chair · Maastricht University Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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