This feasibility randomized controlled trial indicates that the study design was appropriate and acceptable to older adults, as demonstrated by recruitment and retention rates, demonstrating the potential for conducting a future powered randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of KOKU-Nut.
The majority of intervention group participants met the target engagement frequency with KOKU-Nut.
Recruitment and retention rates supported the feasibility of the study design.
There was no statistically detectable difference in physical function between intervention and control groups at 12 weeks.
There was no statistically detectable difference in dietary intake between intervention and control groups at 12 weeks.
The study collected usability and safety data as part of the feasibility assessment.
The feasibility trial results support progression to a future fully powered randomized controlled trial.
This research studied whether a free tablet-based app called KOKU-Nut, designed to help older adults eat better and be more physically active, could be practically tested in a clinical trial setting. Researchers recruited 51 community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older, randomly assigning 31 of them to either use KOKU-Nut three times a week for 12 weeks or receive a healthy lifestyle leaflet. The key question was not whether the app worked, but whether a trial like this was doable — whether people would join, stick with it, and find the technology acceptable. The results suggest the trial design was workable. Nearly all participants (28 out of 31) completed the full 12 weeks, and most people in the app group (about 71%) used it as frequently as asked. No differences were found between groups in physical fitness measures or dietary intake, but this was expected since the trial was not large enough to reliably detect such effects — it was only designed to test whether a bigger trial is worth doing. This research suggests that older adults living in the community are willing and able to participate in digital health trials involving tablet-based apps, and that dropout rates are low enough to make a larger study feasible. The next step, according to the authors, would be a larger trial with enough participants to properly test whether KOKU-Nut actually improves nutrition and physical function in older adults.
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Upload Your LabsFrench C, Burden S, Gangannagaripalli J, Stanmore E. (2026). Assessing a Digital Platform (KOKU-Nut) to Improve Nutrition in Older Adults: Mixed Methods Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.. JMIR aging. https://doi.org/10.2196/87351