Impact of Mobile Phone Texting Service to Support Weight Loss (SMS)

Efficacy of Mobile Telehealth Short Message Service (SMS) as a Facilitator for Weight Management: A Randomised Controlled Trial

This study evaluates the efficacy of a mobile telehealth short message service as a facilitator for weight management. Half of the participants will receive a standard care weight management group intervention, while the other half will receive daily text messages via their mobile phone to help facilitate weight loss. It is hypothesized that the intervention group receiving text messages will be as successful as the control group at achieving weight loss over a 3-month period.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Obesity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Short Message Text Service; Behavioral: Standard Weight Management Group

Detailed Description

Obesity, a chronic progressive disease, has become a major public health concern due to its increasing prevalence and association with many adverse health conditions including type 2 diabetes, many cancers and heart disease. The number of individuals requiring weight management intervention is increasing necessitating the need to explore other initiatives.

Developments in health technology are growing in popularity and there is increasing evidence that this type of intervention for obesity can significantly improve clinical outcomes. Mobile phones are a popular means of communication that provide a convenient, inexpensive means to deliver a health technology intervention.Short message service (SMS) by mobile phone has the potential to serve as an intervention medium to promote weight loss that is accessible and easy to use.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • West Lothian
    • Edinburgh, West Lothian, United Kingdom, EH49 6SJ
      • Elizabeth McAnally
    • Edinburgh, West Lothian, United Kingdom, EH54 6PP
      • NHS Lothian

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Body mass index > 35kg/m requiring to lose weight for an operation or having a co-morbidity including diabetes, osteoarthritis, high cholesterol, asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea or with a body mass >40kg/m with no co-morbidities.
• Own a mobile phone
• Have the ability to use short message service
• Have access to weighing scales
• Mentally capable of informed consent
• Have the ability to read and speak English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Uncontrolled Hypothyroidism
• Poorly controlled psychiatric illness
• Current alcohol or drug abuse
• Learning disability
• Do not own a mobile phone
• Do not have access to weighing scales
• Does not have the ability to read or speak English

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Short Message Text Service; Participants receive short messages daily via their mobile phone	Behavioral: Short Message Text Service; A service designed by professionals inside the National Health Service (NHS) to provide support and advice for participants to manage weight loss. It combines the expertise of the healthcare team and the convenience of the participant's own mobile phone to give prompts and advice to act on. It makes use of the familiar and convenient mobile phone text service 'SMS' to communicate directly with participants.
Active Comparator: Standard Weight Management Group; Participants attend standard group weight management sessions	Behavioral: Standard Weight Management Group; A standard Lothian NHS group programme facilitated by a Dietitian

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Weight Loss	weight recorded in Kg on a Seca 635 medical digital load cell balance	3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Behavioural changes necessary for weight loss	Self reported dietary and physical activity changes using 7-day food and exercise diaries	3 months
Body fat changes	Measured using a medically approved and validated scale: Tanita SC-240MA body composition analyser	3 months
Body Mass index	calculated using the formula weight in kg divided by height squared in metres	3 months
Height	Height measured using Seca portable stadiometer with a sliding head plate	3months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NHS Lothian
• Collaborators: Queen Margaret University
• Investigators: Study Director: Douglas McBean, PhD, Queen Margaret University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Patrick K, Raab F, Adams MA, Dillon L, Zabinski M, Rock CL, Griswold WG, Norman GJ. A text message-based intervention for weight loss: randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res. 2009 Jan 13;11(1):e1. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1100.

Helpful Links

• World Health Organisation

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 28, 2017
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): October 31, 2019
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 29, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 2, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): December 7, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 14, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 12, 2019
• Last Verified: March 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 16/SS/0200

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified participant data for all primary and secondary outcome measures will be made available within 6months of study completion

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No