Impact of Self-Monitoring Technology and Interventionist Contact on Weight Loss

September 21, 2015 updated by: The Miriam Hospital
Despite continued research on effective interventions, obesity remains a major public health issue in the United States. Current treatments, including behavioral weight management programs, weight loss surgery, and pharmacotherapy, tend to be high in cost and have limited reach, reducing the ability of these treatments to address the population-wide scope of the obesity epidemic. Recent advances in technology that improve the ease of self-monitoring and provide targeted feedback offer promise to help larger groups of individuals to lose weight. Despite the commercial popularity of these products, however, little research has been conducted to evaluate their impact on excess body weight or to determine how they should ideally be implemented. Two key questions need to be addressed. First, is use of self-monitoring technology sufficient to produce weight loss, or must this technology be combined with interventionist contact? Second, how cost-effective is a technology-based intervention, with and without interventionist contact? The current study is small prospective, randomized pilot study comparing a self-guided self-monitoring condition (SC) to a technology only condition (TECH) and a technology plus interventionist support condition (TECH+INT). All participants will all be given basic weight management information knowledge and randomized to one of three conditions. Participants in the self-guided self-monitoring condition (SC) will receive traditional paper self-monitoring logs, a standard body weight scale, and a pedometer and calorie book; participants in the technology-based condition (TECH) will receive an electronic activity monitor and WiFi-enabled body weight scale, and will track caloric intake via an associated website; and participants in the interventionist contact condition (TECH+INT) will receive the same technology as in the TECH condition, combined with weekly interventionist contact delivered via telephone. We will compare the impact of each condition on weight loss and investigate preliminary cost-effectiveness.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

80

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02903
        • Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age between 18 and 70
  • BMI between 27 and 40 kg/m2
  • Access to a computer and WIFI in the home

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Weight over 340 lbs
  • Physical limitations that prevent walking 1/4 mile without stopping
  • Currently participating in another weight loss program or taking weight loss medication
  • Currently pregnant, lactating, less than 6-months post-partum, or plans to become pregnant during the 6-month study period
  • Uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes
  • History of coronary heart disease
  • Terminal Illness
  • Plans to relocate during the 6-month study period
  • Substance Abuse
  • Severe psychiatric disorders
  • Dementia

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SC
Self-guided self-monitoring condition. Participants will receive standard self-monitoring tools and information on weight regulation.
Behavioral: Self-monitoring skills
Experimental: TECH
Technology condition. Participants will receive self-monitoring technology and information regarding weight regulation.
Behavioral: Self-monitoring skills
Behavioral: Technology
Experimental: TECH+INT
Technology plus interventionist contact arm. Participants will receive self-monitoring technology, information regarding weight regulation, and interventionist contact via telephone.
Behavioral: Self-monitoring skills
Behavioral: Technology
Behavioral: Interventionist Contact

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Weight
Time Frame: 6 months post randomization
6 months post randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The Miriam Hospital

Collaborators

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kathryn M Ross, PhD MPH, The Miriam Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 25, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 25, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

December 3, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 23, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 21, 2015

Last Verified

September 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 209313
  • F32DK100069-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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