Clinical trial NCT02368002: BestFIT: a Personalized Weight Loss Program
Official title: Evaluating Options for Non-Responders: A SMART Approach to Enhancing Weight Loss
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Obesity
Keywords: obesity
diet, reducing
Lead sponsor: HealthPartners Institute
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Drexel University
name: University of Michigan
name: University of Minnesota
name: University of Washington
name: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
First posted: 2015-02-20
Enrollment: 468
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Maximum age (years): 70
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SEQUENTIAL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to learn how to personalize weight loss programs. In this research we will study:

1. Whether a weight loss counselor should decide if the traditional weight loss therapy is working either after 3 or 7 weekly sessions of therapy and
2. For those who haven't lost the expected amount of weight, whether it is more effective to add packaged meals to the traditional weight loss therapy or to change to an enhanced version of behavioral weight loss therapy.

Detailed description: The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends referral to behavioral weight loss programs to help obese adults achieve a clinically meaningful weight loss of 8-10% of starting body weight. However, approximately half of participants are unable to achieve this goal. Despite this, a"one size fits all" approach is the norm, a major drawback because those who do not respond can in fact be detected early. This gap in weight loss intervention science calls for an adaptive intervention approach that could provide the "right treatment at the right time for the right person". Adaptive interventions individualize treatment through empirically-supported decision rules advising when and how treatments should unfold over time to maximize effectiveness. Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trials (SMART), developed explicitly to build the best adaptive interventions, use experimental design principles to develop these decision rules. The investigators will use a SMART to systematically evaluate therapeutic approach and timing differences for intervening with those who do not respond to a behavioral weight loss program. Self-regulation challenges have been identified as a major adherence barrier. Two attractive options to address self-regulation difficulties are: 1) supplementing behavioral treatment with Meal Replacements (MR) which decreases the need for self-regulation; and 2) switching therapeutic approaches by using an enhanced version of behavioral weight loss therapy that teaches acceptance based behavioral skills which boost capacity for self-regulation. Additionally, two time points for intervening with non-responders will be evaluated: 1) 3 weeks, based on current weight loss trial evidence; and 2) 7 weeks, based on average time used in the existing stepped care literature. Adults (n=500) will be recruited and will receive individual behavioral weight loss treatment (BWL). Participants will be randomized to either: 1) treatment response assessment at 3 weeks or 2) treatment response assessment at 7 weeks. Subjects who have lost the expected amount of weight at their assessment point, will continue with traditional behavioral weight loss therapy. For those who have not lost the expected amount of weight, we will re-randomize them to either meal replacements in addition to the traditional weight loss therapy or to the enhanced version of behavioral weight loss therapy.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Between the ages of 21 - 70
* BMI between 30 - 45 kg/m2
* Able to walk 2 blocks without stopping
* Able to attend measurement and intervention activities in the Twin Cities area in person for 18 months

Exclusion Criteria:

* Self-reported pregnancy or breastfeeding baby in last 6 months or planning a pregnancy in the next 18 months
* History of bariatric surgery
* Current or previous diagnosis of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa
* Food allergies, intolerances

Primary outcomes:
measure: Weight Change
timeFrame: 6 months and 18 months after baseline
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Weight Change
timeFrame: 6 and 18 months after baseline
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Bloomington
country: United States
facility: HealthPartners Institute
state: Minnesota
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Minnesota
name: Nancy E Sherwood, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: HealthPartners Institute
name: A. Lauren Crain, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
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citation: Lei H, Nahum-Shani I, Lynch K, Oslin D, Murphy SA. A "SMART" design for building individualized treatment sequences. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2012;8:21-48. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143152. Epub 2011 Dec 12.
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citation: Rock CL, Flatt SW, Sherwood NE, Karanja N, Pakiz B, Thomson CA. Effect of a free prepared meal and incentivized weight loss program on weight loss and weight loss maintenance in obese and overweight women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2010 Oct 27;304(16):1803-10. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.1503. Epub 2010 Oct 9.
citation: Heymsfield SB, van Mierlo CA, van der Knaap HC, Heo M, Frier HI. Weight management using a meal replacement strategy: meta and pooling analysis from six studies. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 May;27(5):537-49. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802258.
citation: Forman EM, Hoffman KL, McGrath KB, Herbert JD, Brandsma LL, Lowe MR. A comparison of acceptance- and control-based strategies for coping with food cravings: an analog study. Behav Res Ther. 2007 Oct;45(10):2372-86. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2007.04.004. Epub 2007 Apr 18.
citation: Sherwood NE, Butryn ML, Forman EM, Almirall D, Seburg EM, Lauren Crain A, Kunin-Batson AS, Hayes MG, Levy RL, Jeffery RW. The BestFIT trial: A SMART approach to developing individualized weight loss treatments. Contemp Clin Trials. 2016 Mar;47:209-16. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2016.01.011. Epub 2016 Jan 26.
citation: Emery Tavernier RL, Mason SM, Levy RL, Seburg EM, Sherwood NE. Association of childhood abuse with behavioral weight-loss outcomes: Examining the mediating effect of binge eating severity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022 Jan;30(1):96-105. doi: 10.1002/oby.23320.
citation: Sherwood NE, Crain AL, Seburg EM, Butryn ML, Forman EM, Crane MM, Levy RL, Kunin-Batson AS, Jeffery RW. BestFIT Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial Results: A SMART Approach to Developing Individualized Weight Loss Treatment Sequences. Ann Behav Med. 2022 Mar 1;56(3):291-304. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaab061.
citation: Crane MM, Seburg EM, Levy RL, Jeffery RW, Sherwood NE. Using targeting to recruit men and women of color into a behavioral weight loss trial. Trials. 2020 Jun 16;21(1):537. doi: 10.1186/s13063-020-04500-1.