Impact of Mobile Phone Texting Service to Support Weight Loss

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

Detailed Description
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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.

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

Conditions
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Obesity

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Short Message Text Service
* Behavioral: Standard Weight Management Group


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

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


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Short Message Text Service<br>Participants receive short messages daily via their mobile phone | Behavioral: Short Message Text Service<br>* 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.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Standard Weight Management Group<br>Participants attend standard group weight management sessions | Behavioral: Standard Weight Management Group<br>* A standard Lothian NHS group programme facilitated by a Dietitian<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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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 |