An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility Trial
BackgroundA multidisciplinary approach to weight management is offered at tier 3 pediatric weight management services in the United Kingdom. Encouraging dietary change is a major aim, with patients meeting with dieticians, endocrinologists, psychologists, nurse specialists, a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2023-04-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e36837 |
| _version_ | 1797734079090655232 |
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| author | Jennifer S Cox Elanor C Hinton Julian Hamilton Shield Natalia S Lawrence |
| author_facet | Jennifer S Cox Elanor C Hinton Julian Hamilton Shield Natalia S Lawrence |
| author_sort | Jennifer S Cox |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundA multidisciplinary approach to weight management is offered at tier 3 pediatric weight management services in the United Kingdom. Encouraging dietary change is a major aim, with patients meeting with dieticians, endocrinologists, psychologists, nurse specialists, and social workers on average every other month.
ObjectiveThis research sought to trial an inhibitory control training smartphone app—FoodT—with the clinic population of a pediatric weight management service. FoodT has shown positive impacts on food choice in adult users, with resulting weight loss. It was hoped that when delivered as an adjunctive treatment alongside the extensive social, medical, psychological, and dietetic interventions already offered at the clinic, the introduction of inhibitory control training may offer patients another tool that supports eating choice. In this feasibility trial, recruitment, retention, and app use were the primary outcomes. An extensive battery of measures was included to test the feasibility and acceptability of these measures for future powered trials.
MethodsFoodT was offered to pediatric patients and their parents during a routine clinic appointment, and patients were asked to use the app at home every day for the first week and once per week for the rest of the month. Feasibility and acceptability were measured in terms of recruitment, engagement with the app, and retention to the trial. A battery of psychometric tests was given before and after app use to assess the acceptability of collecting data on changes to food choices and experiences that would inform future trial work.
ResultsA total of 12 children and 10 parents consented (22/62, 35% of those approached). Further, 1 child and no parents achieved the recommended training schedule. No participants completed the posttrial measures. The reasons for not wanting to be recruited to the trial included participants not considering their weight to be connected to eating choices and not feeling that the app suited their needs. No reasons are known for noncompletion.
ConclusionsIt is unclear whether the intervention itself or the research processes, including the battery of measures, prevented completion. It is therefore difficult to make any decisions as to the value that the app has within this setting. Important lessons have been learned from this research that have potential broad relevance, including the importance of co-designing interventions with service users and avoiding deterring people from early-stage participation in extensive data collection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:39:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2946a648d32a4b2cbc3a96ceed6bd97b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:39:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-2946a648d32a4b2cbc3a96ceed6bd97b2023-08-28T23:56:48ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2023-04-017e3683710.2196/36837An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility TrialJennifer S Coxhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2364-7563Elanor C Hintonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2793-8552Julian Hamilton Shieldhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2601-7575Natalia S Lawrencehttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1969-6637 BackgroundA multidisciplinary approach to weight management is offered at tier 3 pediatric weight management services in the United Kingdom. Encouraging dietary change is a major aim, with patients meeting with dieticians, endocrinologists, psychologists, nurse specialists, and social workers on average every other month. ObjectiveThis research sought to trial an inhibitory control training smartphone app—FoodT—with the clinic population of a pediatric weight management service. FoodT has shown positive impacts on food choice in adult users, with resulting weight loss. It was hoped that when delivered as an adjunctive treatment alongside the extensive social, medical, psychological, and dietetic interventions already offered at the clinic, the introduction of inhibitory control training may offer patients another tool that supports eating choice. In this feasibility trial, recruitment, retention, and app use were the primary outcomes. An extensive battery of measures was included to test the feasibility and acceptability of these measures for future powered trials. MethodsFoodT was offered to pediatric patients and their parents during a routine clinic appointment, and patients were asked to use the app at home every day for the first week and once per week for the rest of the month. Feasibility and acceptability were measured in terms of recruitment, engagement with the app, and retention to the trial. A battery of psychometric tests was given before and after app use to assess the acceptability of collecting data on changes to food choices and experiences that would inform future trial work. ResultsA total of 12 children and 10 parents consented (22/62, 35% of those approached). Further, 1 child and no parents achieved the recommended training schedule. No participants completed the posttrial measures. The reasons for not wanting to be recruited to the trial included participants not considering their weight to be connected to eating choices and not feeling that the app suited their needs. No reasons are known for noncompletion. ConclusionsIt is unclear whether the intervention itself or the research processes, including the battery of measures, prevented completion. It is therefore difficult to make any decisions as to the value that the app has within this setting. Important lessons have been learned from this research that have potential broad relevance, including the importance of co-designing interventions with service users and avoiding deterring people from early-stage participation in extensive data collection.https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e36837 |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer S Cox Elanor C Hinton Julian Hamilton Shield Natalia S Lawrence An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility Trial JMIR Formative Research |
| title | An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility Trial |
| title_full | An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility Trial |
| title_fullStr | An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility Trial |
| title_short | An App-Based Intervention for Pediatric Weight Management: Pre-Post Acceptability and Feasibility Trial |
| title_sort | app based intervention for pediatric weight management pre post acceptability and feasibility trial |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e36837 |
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