The Social Pounds Off Digitally (Social POD) Study (SocialPOD)

June 23, 2015 updated by: Brie Turner-McGrievy, University of South Carolina

Refining and Pilot Testing Social Networks for Encouraging Healthy Behaviors: The Social Pounds Off Digitally (Social POD) Study

Smartphones have the capability to monitor health-related behaviors (exercise, diet, etc.) and provide social support which has the potential to play a powerful role in health promotion. The objective of this study is to refine and pilot test the Social POD app for personalized health monitoring and interaction founded on a combination of social networks, recommender systems, motivational research, and health behavior theory. The aim of our proposed project is to conduct a 3-month pilot RCT among overweight and obese adults (N=150) comparing a theory-based podcast (TBP) plus self-monitoring using a commercially-available calorie and weight tracking app (current most popular diet self-monitoring method) versus TBP plus self-monitoring and social support/incentive points for participating with the Social POD app (TBP+Social POD).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Objectives and Significance. Smartphones have the capability to monitor health-related behaviors (exercise, diet, etc.) and provide social support which has the potential to play a powerful role in health promotion. The objective of this study is to refine and pilot test the Social POD app for personalized health monitoring and interaction founded on a combination of social networks, recommender systems, motivational research, and health behavior theory. Currently, we are recruiting for usability testing among obese and overweight (BMI >25 kg/m2) adults (n=20) with our basic Social POD app. Our proposed project, which seeks to supplement our current line of research investigating mHealth interventions for overweight and obese adults, has two aims:

Aim 1: Refine our intelligent social agent mobile app (Social POD) based on results from our usability testing and develop new components (i.e., incentive system) for use in a 3-month randomized controlled pilot trial (RCT).

Aim 2: Conduct a 3-month pilot RCT among overweight and obese adults (N=150) comparing a theory-based podcast (TBP) plus self-monitoring using a commercially-available calorie and weight tracking app (current most popular diet self-monitoring method)9 versus TBP plus self-monitoring and social support/incentive points for participating with the Social POD app (TBP+Social POD).

Once the final intervention is developed through Aim 1 including the incentive system, we will recruit 150 overweight adult Android smartphone owners (BMI 25-49.9 kg/m2; age 18-65; >30% AA) to participate in a 3-month pilot of our enhanced intervention. Detecting differences in weight among the two groups is our primary research goal.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

57

Phase

  • Phase 1

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
    • South Carolina
      • Columbia, South Carolina, United States, 29208
        • University of South Carolina

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

16 years to 63 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Overweight or obese (Body Mass Index between 25 and 49.9 kg/m2)
  • Own and Android phone or tablet

Exclusion Criteria:

  • are currently pregnant
  • are younger than 18 or older than 65 years of age
  • are unable to attend 3 meetings at the University of South Carolina
  • don't have access to the Internet and a computer
  • don't have access to a scale for self-monitoring weight
  • aren't willing to be randomized to one of the two groups
  • have a psychiatric disease, drug or alcohol dependency, or uncontrolled thyroid condition
  • have a major health condition, such as heart conditions, diabetes, and past incidence of stroke
  • have an eating disorder
  • currently participating in a weight loss program or taking weight loss medications

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Theory-based podcast

Receive a 3-month weight loss intervention delivered via theory-based podcast (TBP) plus self-monitoring using a commercially-available calorie and weight tracking app (current most popular diet self-monitoring method).

Intervention: podcast + mobile diet app
Behavioral: Podcast + mobile diet app
Use of a mobile app to track behaviors related to weight loss as well as receive study-related weight loss information via podcast.
Experimental: Theory-based podcast + Social POD

Receive a 3-month weight loss intervention delivered via Theory-based Podcast (TBP) plus self-monitoring and social support/incentive points for participating with the Social POD app (TBP+Social POD).

Intervention: podcast + theory-based mobile diet app
Behavioral: Podcast + theory-based mobile diet app
Use of a theory-based mobile app to track behaviors related to weight loss as well as receive study-related weight loss information via podcast.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Weight loss
Time Frame: 12 weeks
12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of South Carolina

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

January 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 16, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 22, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

January 26, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 24, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2015

Last Verified

June 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00034960

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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