SoSu-liv. Mobile Media for Health Promotion

May 5, 2015 updated by: Arne Astrup, University of Copenhagen

SoSu-liv. A Web- and App-based Intervention Study for Health Promotion Among Social and Health Care Workers in Denmark. A Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a web- and app-based tool for health promotion for social and health care workers in Denmark has an effect on body weight (primary outcome), body fat percentage, waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in a 38 week intervention period.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study was conducted in six municipalities in Denmark from August 2012 - July 2013. In each municipality two to four nursing homes were randomized to either having access to the SoSu-liv tool for 38 weeks, or act as a controls group, that did not receive any treatment. Those municipalities with an even number of nursing homes were randomized in a 1:1 ratio and municipalities with an odd number of nursing homes in a 2:1 ratio. Twelve out of a total of 20 nursing homes were randomized to SoSu-liv, and 8 were randomized to control. The study was divided into two distinct periods. An initial 16 week period including a team competition among the participating nursing homes using the SoSu-liv tool, and a subsequent 22 week period without a competition.

An information meeting was held at each nursing home during work hours, after which each of the employees who was interested in participating completed the consent form. At the baseline examination taking place a few weeks after, the participants underwent a clinical examination (anthropometry, blood pressure and blood sampling values ), and were subsequently introduced to the SoSu-liv tool, altogether taking up 30-45 minutes. After 16 weeks, the clinical examination was repeated, taking about 15 minutes in total. An identical procedure was applied after the total of 38 weeks. The day before each of the 3 clinical examinations, the participants had to spend approximately 10-15 minutes answering an online questionnaire regarding demographic data, health behaviour and general well-being.

The SoSu-liv tool is a web- and app-based tool developed specifically for this particular group of employees. The program has several social features that encourage the users to interact with each other both digitally, physically and orally at the work place. A general overview of the SoSu-life tool is best given by differentiate the tool into four different sections. The social section is an interactive part making it possible to interact with other colleagues using the program. It includes features to send short messages and challenges to other colleagues, join groups and post messages in discussion forums. The functional section is the practical interactive part. It includes features of food registration (calorie counting), exercise registration, establishing new habits, service of text messages-reminders, and the possibility of emailing a question to an expert. The personal section is where the user can track changes in self-reported variables, such as body weight, waist circumference as well as daily amount of smoked cigarettes, and daily general well-being. Other features of the tool include quizzes, health relevant tests, food recipes and food-cinema, as well as a number of information pages on health. Furthermore, the SoSu-liv-tool used a point system where most of the activities performed using the tool gave points to the individual user. During the first 16 weeks, each nursing home formed a team of participants, and each of the users' individual points were added to the teams' total points. For every point collected by the nursery team, a ticket was generated to the team and put in a draw pool. Each month, the team had a chance to win a price by simple draw. The team with the most points after 16 weeks also won a price. In the last 22 week intervention period, points were still collected, but no prices were provided.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

566

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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 and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Employees working under a FOA (a Danish union) agreement in elderly care in Denmark.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy

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: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Intervention
Access to the SoSu-liv website and app for 38 weeks.
Behavioral: SoSu-liv website and app
A 38 weeks web- and app-based tool for lifestyle changes intervention.
NO_INTERVENTION: Control
No treatment for 38 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Body weight
Time Frame: 38 weeks
38 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Body fat percentage (Measured using a bioelectrical impedance)
Time Frame: 38 weeks
Measured using a bioelectrical impedance
38 weeks
Waist circumference
Time Frame: 38 weeks
38 weeks
Blood pressure
Time Frame: 38 weeks
38 weeks
Cholesterol
Time Frame: 38 weeks
Capillary whole blood total cholesterol (measured using bedside equipment)
38 weeks
Blood sugar
Time Frame: 38 weeks
Capillary whole blood glucose (measured using bedside equipment)
38 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Copenhagen

Collaborators

PenSam, Denmark
Mobile Fitness A/S

Investigators

  • Study Director: Arne Astrup, Professor, head of department

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

August 1, 2012

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

July 1, 2013

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

July 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 28, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 5, 2015

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

May 8, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

May 8, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 5, 2015

Last Verified

May 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • B283

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.

Clinical Trials on Obesity

Clinical Trials on SoSu-liv website and app

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Hong Kong

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe