Do Text Message Reminders Increase Preoperative Exercise in Obesity Surgery Candidates?

Text Messaging to Improve Adherence to Prehabilitation in Patients Undergoing Bariatric Surgery: a Randomised Controlled Trial

Preoperative exercise has been shown to improve physiological and functional capacity in patients undergoing abdominal surgery to prepare them for the stress of surgery. Patients undergoing bariatric surgery are advised to partake in regular preoperative exercise. In the setting of bariatric surgery, as well as preparing patients for the stress of surgery, it is also thought to increase the likelihood that they will exercise postoperatively. However, compliance to this advice is extremely low. Text-message interventions have been shown to improve compliance to other lifestyle interventions. The investigators will compare the rate of compliance to preoperative exercise prior to bariatric surgery in patients who receive a daily text message to those who do not. The investigators will also compare weight loss.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity; Perioperative Care; Bariatric Surgery
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Daily text message reminders

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 102
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• New Zealand
  • Manukau City
    • Auckland, Manukau City, New Zealand, 2241
      • Manukau Surgery Centre

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients having laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at Manukau Surgery Centre
• Operation used primarily for the treatment of morbid obesity

Exclusion Criteria:

• Operation not performed at Manukau Surgery Centre
• Patient does not have a mobile phone which can receive text messages

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Text message group; Patients randomised to this group will receive daily text message reminders used to motivate them to exercise in the preoperative period. They will also receive an exercise information sheet to complement the text messages.	Behavioral: Daily text message reminders; Daily text message reminders to motivate patients to exercise in conjunction with an exercise information sheet.
No Intervention: No text message group; Patients randomised to this group will receive standardised exercise advice but will not receive the text message reminders or the exercise information sheet.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of patients partaking in the minimum recommended amount of weekly physical activity	>450 METmins per week of physical activity as measured by the internationally and locally validated IPAQ questionnaire.	6 weeks post recruitment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Postoperative Physical Activity	Quantity of physical acitivty will be measured as METmins per week as measured by the IPAQ questionnaire	6 weeks postoperatively
Functional capacity	Measured using the 6 minute walk test	Baseline and 6 weeks post recuitment (preoperatively)
Length of Hospital Stay	Total number of days spent in hospital following their operation	As assessed at day of discharge
Short term weight loss	Postoperative weight loss as measured by percentage of excess weight loss	Out to 6 months postoperatively
Perioperative complications	Prospectively recorded postoperative complications graded according the Clavien-Dindo classification system	Out to 30 days postoperatively

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Collaborators: Health Research Council, New Zealand
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Andrew G Hill, MBChB, MD, EdD, FRACS, FACS, South Auckland Clinical School, University of Auckland

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 24, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 25, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): May 28, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): November 14, 2013
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 12, 2013
• Last Verified: November 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: Bariatric Prehabilitation