142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

304602
Exergame Options for Physical Activity: Geocaching for Exercise and Activity Research

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Whitney Garney, MPH , Health & Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Monica Wendel, Dr.P.H., M.A. , School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX
Billie Castle , Center for Community Health Development, Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health, College Station, TX
Audrey Young , Center for Community Health Development, Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health, College Station, TX
George Cunningham, PhD , Department of Health & Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Monique Ingram, M.P.H. , Center for Community Health Development, Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health, College Station, TX
Angela Alaniz, BA , Center for Community Health Development, School of Rural Public Health, College Station, TX
Background: Geocaching, often described as a real-world treasure hunt, uses exergame strategies to encourage physically active. The sport is growing in popularity because it appeals to people of all ages due to its low-cost, family-friendly format; in fact, currently millions of people play worldwide. Until recently, geocaching had not been studied for physical activity, which is why the Geocaching for Exercise and Activity Research (GEAR) Study was initiated. The GEAR Study is a time-series exploratory project to measure the amount and intensity of physical activity that people engage in while geocaching. Methods: GEAR was initiated in January 2013 with 1000 participants across the United States. Participants were asked to complete twelve monthly surveys to record their physical activity while geocaching. Participants logged activity using pedometers through an online data collection site. Results: GEAR is currently in its last stage of data collection and will wrap up in March 2014. While final analyses will begin in April 2014, preliminary analyses reveal associations between geocaching and physical activity; people who geocached frequently were more likely to meet CDC guidelines for physical activity. Researchers expect to compute multiple regression analyses to understand the predictions of geocaching frequency, as well as MANOVAs to compare means across multiple groups of people, in order to understand if geocaching intensity varies based on geography or age. Conclusion: GEAR findings will help promote geocaching as an exergame. Furthermore, researchers will learn more about why people participate in exergames and what their potential impact is on physical activity.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the exergame, geocaching; Detail the study design and methodology; Describe the analyses used to document study findings; and Present areas of future research regarding exergames as a means for physical activity.

Keyword(s): Physical Activity, Technology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am on the research team that conducted this project and I helped developed the poster.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.