Structured Self-Talk and Wearable-Assisted Walking for Physical Activity and Function in Older Adults

The goal of this randomized clinical trial was to examine whether adding structured self-talk to wearable-assisted walking could support physical activity and physical function in community-dwelling older adults. The study also examined whether wearable-assisted walking provided benefits compared with a walking program without wearable feedback. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups for 12 weeks: (1) wearable-assisted walking combined with structured self-talk, (2) wearable-assisted walking without structured self-talk, or (3) a walking-only active control condition. All groups followed the same moderate-intensity walking schedule. The main questions were whether wearable-assisted walking was associated with better physical activity and functional performance than walking alone, and whether adding structured self-talk provided additional benefits beyond wearable-assisted walking. Physical activity, functional performance, and other protocol-specified health-related measures were assessed before and after the intervention.