Telehealth for Weight Maintenance of African-American Women ("Exercise Your Faith")

Telehealth for Weight Maintenance of African-American Women

Obesity can cause many health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Although some people may lose weight through diet and exercise, many regain weight over time. There is a need to study new ways of helping people maintain their weight. The purpose of this research is to study the effect of a weight maintenance program provided through home television sets connected to the Internet.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity; Overweight
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Weight Loss Church Program; Behavioral: Telephone Counseling; Behavioral: Telehealth Support

Detailed Description

Rates of obesity in the United States have increased dramatically over the past four decades. Although research studies have demonstrated that weight loss is achievable through lifestyle modifications, the maintenance of weight reduction beyond six months remains a challenge.

This study will examine the feasibility of a telehealth program for weight maintenance. Telehealth is the delivery of health related services to promote healthy behaviors through the innovative use of technology, without the need for travel. The telehealth program will be accessible at home through Internet-enabled television sets. The telehealth program includes three components: (1) weekly video programs that discuss problem solving and relapse prevention strategies and include motivational stories; (2) regularly updated video exercise programs; and (3) online communication with other study participants and an exercise and nutrition specialist.

A randomized controlled trial will determine the feasibility and acceptability of the weight maintenance telehealth program. The study participants will be African-American women, as they have a higher prevalence of obesity with a disproportionate risk of related chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes). Two churches will collaborate with the University of Illinois at Chicago and assist in meeting the social, spiritual, and cultural needs of the participants. One hundred women will be recruited to participate in a one-year trial. The study includes a weight loss phase (Phase 1), and a weight maintenance phase (Phase 2). During Phase 1, all participants will attend a 12-week weight loss program held in the participating churches. Following completion of this program, one church will be assigned to be the intervention group, and the other church will be the comparison group. During Phase 2, participants in the intervention group will receive monthly telephone counseling plus access to the telehealth program, while the comparison group will only receive monthly telephone counseling. The specific aims of the study include: (1) to evaluate the effect of the telehealth program on change in body mass index; and (2) to evaluate the effect of the telehealth program on physical activity and fat, fiber, fruit and vegetable intake.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 88
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 35 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Self-identification as an African-American or Black woman
• Age 35-65 years
• Body mass index 25-50 kg/m2
• Physician approval to safely exercise if any positive answers on Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire
• Owns a television
• Has a working telephone line

Exclusion Criteria:

• Plans to move from the Chicago area during the coming year
• Has a household member already in the study
• Uses illicit drugs or drinks more than two alcoholic drinks daily
• Pregnant, nursing, or planning pregnancy
• Participating in an organized weight loss program or using pharmacotherapy for weight loss
• Use an assistive device for ambulation, or cannot participate in exercise classes

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Telephone Support Only; These participants receive telephone support only during the weight maintenance phase.	Behavioral: Weight Loss Church Program; An initial 12-week weight loss program held in churches to ensure adequate participation, competence in performing exercises, and development of social relationships among participants. All participants attend the church programs prior to the weight maintenance phase.; Behavioral: Telephone Counseling; Following completion of the weight loss program, participants will receive monthly telephone counseling.
Experimental: Telehealth; These participants receive telehealth support (with Internet-enabled digital video recorders) during the weight maintenance phase. These participants also receive telephone support monthly.	Behavioral: Weight Loss Church Program; An initial 12-week weight loss program held in churches to ensure adequate participation, competence in performing exercises, and development of social relationships among participants. All participants attend the church programs prior to the weight maintenance phase.; Behavioral: Telephone Counseling; Following completion of the weight loss program, participants will receive monthly telephone counseling.; Behavioral: Telehealth Support; After the weight loss program, women will access the home weight maintenance telehealth program through Internet enabled digital video recorders connected to their television sets. The telehealth program includes three components: (1) Weekly Video: home access to weekly video programs including problem solving and relapse prevention strategies, as well as motivational stories; (2) Teleexercise: home access to updated video exercise programs; and (3) Electronic Communication: social support through online communication with other participants, and with an exercise and nutrition interventionist.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Body mass index	12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Physical activity		12 months
Dietary intake	Dietary intake includes fat, fiber, fruits and vegetables.	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Illinois at Chicago
• Collaborators: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ben Gerber, MD, MPH, University of Illinois at Chicago

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Gerber BS, Schiffer L, Brown AA, Berbaum ML, Rimmer JH, Braunschweig CL, Fitzgibbon ML. Video telehealth for weight maintenance of African-American women. J Telemed Telecare. 2013 Jul;19(5):266-72. doi: 10.1177/1357633X13490901. Epub 2013 Jun 14.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2010
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 25, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 25, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): July 26, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 28, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 26, 2016
• Last Verified: December 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Obesity; Internet; Body Weight Changes
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Body Weight; Overweight
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2006-0836; R21DK078352 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)