Evaluation of the Y-PATH (Youth- Physical Activity Towards Health) whole school intervention

• Register: ISRCTN
• Last refreshed on: 29 May 2023
• Main ID: ISRCTN20495704
• Date of registration: 08/03/2018
• Prospective Registration: No
• Primary sponsor: Dublin City University
• Public title: Evaluation of the Y-PATH (Youth- Physical Activity Towards Health) whole school intervention
• Scientific title: Evaluation of the Y-PATH (Youth- Physical Activity Towards Health) whole school intervention through a cluster randomised controlled trial
• Date of first enrolment: 01/05/2013
• Target sample size: 500
• Recruitment status: Completed
• URL: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN20495704
• Study type: Interventional
• Study design: Multi-centre cluster randomised controlled trial (Prevention)
• Phase: Not Applicable

Countries of recruitment

Ireland

Contacts

• Name: Sarahjane Belton

Key inclusion & exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: School level inclusion criteria:
1. Mixed gender school
2. Located in the greater Dublin area (Ireland)
3. Offer 80 minutes of timetabled Physical Education (PE)/week to all students at Junior Cycle education
4. Have a qualified PE teacher on staff to deliver PE class

Participant level inclusion criteria:
1. Enrolled in first year of a school meeting the above criteria
Exclusion criteria: School level:
1. Single gender school
2. Not located in the greater Dublin area (Ireland)
3. Offer less than 80 minutes of timetabled Physical Education (PE)/week to all students at Junior Cycle education
4. Do not have a qualified PE teacher on staff to deliver PE class

Participant level:
Do not attend a school meeting the above criteria

Age minimum:
Age maximum:
Gender: Both

Health Condition(s) or Problem(s) studied

Physical activity
Not Applicable

Intervention(s)

Schools are pair matched upon entry to the trial, and then randomly assigned to control or intervention arm at a 1:1 ratio:
1. Control = no intervention
2. Intervention = Y-PATH schools based multi-component intervention

Y-PATH intervention
The Y-PATH intervention is a whole school intervention, with an educational focus, broken down into four components:
1. Student component:
1.1. Subsumed within school PE class
1.2. Fits within and supports the aims and areas of study (strands) of the current Junior Cycle Physical Education (Department of Education and Science, 2005) curriculum. The Physical Education inspectorate from the Irish Department of Education and Skills were consulted in process of Y-PATH intervention development and confirm that students do not miss out on curriculum content, rather they gain considerably in terms of its focus and how it is delivered
1.3. The Health-Related Activity (HRA) units, with a targeted motivational focus, will be taught exclusively as the first unit of physical education that students are exposed to each academic year (units progress each year), and is integrated across the remaining 7 strands of the PE curriculum [Gymnastics, Dance, Aquatics, Athletics, Invasion games, Net and Wall Games, and Outdoor and Adventure Activities]. Similarly the skills and components of FMS where students were found to be least proficient (Belton et al. 2014) are also targeted across all strands of the curriculum. This represents a change in the philosophy of the Irish PE curriculum from ‘teaching a physical activity’ to ‘teaching HRA and FMS through a physical activity’
1.4. The PE teacher’s handbook includes three sets (one each for first, second and third year) of 6 illustrated colour lesson plans for the exclusive HRA unit, a set of resource cards

Primary Outcome(s)

Daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), measured with an accelerometer supplemented with a self-report questionnaire (PACE+). Collected at three timepoints in September baseline (start of Year 1), midpoint (start of Year 2), and retention (24 months from baseline)

Secondary Outcome(s)

Al measures collected at three time points in September baseline (start of Year 1), midpoint (start of Year 2), and retention (24 months from baseline):
1. Fundamental movement skill ability, measured using TGMD II
2. Cardiovascular fitness, measured using Queens College Step Test
3. BMI, measured using height and weight
4. Physical activity motivation, self-efficacy and attitude, measured using questionnaires
5. Perceived physical competence, measured using a questionnaire

Secondary ID(s)

DCUREC/2010/081

Source(s) of Monetary Support

Dublin City University

Ethics review

Status:
Approval date:
Contact:

Dublin City University Research Ethics Committee, initial approval 2010 (ref: DCU/REC/2010/081), amended approval to encompass Y-PATH CRCT 01/05/2013

Results

• Results available: Yes
• Date Completed: 20/05/2015