Table 3.
Summary of measures used in the Aussie-FIT trial and programme evaluation and time points
| Measurement instrument | Baseline | 3 months | 6 months* | |
| Objective measures (collected at the measurement sessions at football clubs by members of the research team or trained research assistants) | ||||
| PA and sedentary time | Participants will also be asked to wear an Actigraph GTX9 (ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, Florida, USA) monitor continuously for 7 days on their non-dominant wrist at each data collection timepoint to provide a valid and reliable assessment of PA.32 The GT9X is a small (3.5×3.5×1 cm), lightweight (14 g) and waterproof triaxial accelerometer. The monitors will be initialised to collect data at a 30 Hz sampling rate. Men will be provided with written instructions for wearing the Actigraph. | X | X | X |
| Weight | Weight in kilograms measured with valid and reliable body scale (eg, Tanita); light clothing, no shoes and empty pockets; assessor blinded to condition. | X | X | X |
| Height | Height measured in centimetres using a stadiometer (eg, Seca); without shoes. | X | ||
| BMI | Calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres (kg/m2). | X | X | X |
| Waist circumference | Waist circumference is measured two times using a tape measure (three times, if the first two measurements differ by 5 mm or more) and the mean of all recorded measurements calculated. The participant is asked to locate the last rib and iliac crest, and the measure is performed at the midpoint between these to locate the waist. If the man cannot locate his last rib and iliac crest the researcher can ask the man to identify where his belly button is and the measurement can occur one inch/3 cm or width of two fingers above where man has indicated. If the first two measurements differ by 5 mm or more, measure third time. | X | X | X |
| Resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure | Resting blood pressure measured with a digital blood pressure monitor (Omron HBP-1320, Milton Keynes, UK) monitor after 5 min sitting still. If measured systolic blood pressure is over 150 mm Hg and/or measured diastolic blood pressure is over 95 mm Hg, two further measures will be taken and recorded. If blood pressure remains high, the man will be provided with a letter explaining the circumstances in which they had their blood pressure measured and recorded and they will be encouraged to consult their general practitioner. A mean will be calculated from the second and third measures. Feet flat on the floor, arm free of clothing or wearing loose/thin clothing, cuff at the level of heart and arm resting, same arm used (non-dominant arm), no talking. | X | X | X |
| Cholesterol | Cholesterol will be checked using handheld point of care device (Accutrend Plus) that measures cholesterol immediately. | X | X | X |
| Self-reported measures (completed at the measurement sessions at football clubs or online in the participant’s own time, depending on preference) | ||||
| Food intake | Intake24 is an open-source self-completed computerised dietary recall system based on multiple pass 24-hour recall. A trained interviewer will assist participants who may request assistance to complete the recall.15 16 | X | X | X |
| Positive and negative affect | The short form of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale.48 | X | X | X |
| Self-esteem | The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.49 | X | X | X |
| Quality of life | The health-related quality of life measured using the EQ-5D-5L.41 | X | X | X |
| Demographics | Age, ethnicity, education, marital status, current employment status, income, housing status. | X | ||
| Motivation | Motivation to be physically active.50 | X | X | X |
| Automaticity | The ‘Self-Report Behavioural Automaticity Index’.51 | X | X | X |
| Goal conflict, facilitation | Goal conflict and goal facilitation scale.52 | X | X | X |
| Action and coping planning | Action planning and copying planning scale.53 | X | X | X |
| Self-reported programme evaluation measures | ||||
| Recruitment | How participants found out about the programme; programme uptake (number of people who expressed interest; number of people who fit inclusion criteria). | X | ||
| Programme evaluation: via questionnaires and interviews | Attendance to programme sessions and to measurement sessions; fidelity of programme delivery; perceptions of effectiveness and acceptability, assessed using the programme evaluation questionnaire, which is adapted from the original Aussie-FIT programme. Interviews with participants, coaches and accredited exercise physiologists will also provide further data on these points. | |||
| Training evaluation: via questionnaires and interviews | Coaches will evaluate the training provided to them by completing the coach training evaluation questionnaire on completing their training. The interviews will also ask the coaches about their training. | |||
* and 12 months, for intervention group only.
Aussie-FIT, Australian Fans in Training; BMI, body mass index; PA, physical activity.