Impact of Fitbit Plus Weight Management Program on Physical Activity and Metabolic Disease in Obese Adolescents

University Hospitals (UH)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity

Treatments: Other: Fitbit Charge HR plus weekly phone calls to review physical activity data

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02507791

03-15-03

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is evaluating the feasibility and efficacy of using Fitbit Charge HR devices to remotely track the physical activity of obese pediatric patients who are concurrently enrolled in a comprehensive weight loss intervention program. Patients will receive Fitbit devices and will be called weekly to review their average daily steps and heart rates. Patients will receive the Fitbit either at the beginning of classes or upon completion of classes. Patients will then be followed remotely and called weekly for 12 additional weeks after completing classes. The two groups will be compared to examine for differences.

Full description

Patients will be randomly assigned into one of two groups. In the first group, patients will undergo an already established multidisciplinary weight loss intervention program and will also wear Fitbit Charge HR devices. Their data will be regularly uploaded to their Fitbit Dashboard, and this information will be reviewed by the study team.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 7 to 18 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Enrollment in the Healthy Kids, Healthy Weight assessment and intervention program
• BMI greater than or equal to the 95th percentile

Exclusion criteria

• Compromising medical condition that prevents physical activity (sickle cell disease, severe asthma, fractures, etc)
• Severe intellectual disability
• History of smoking
• Current use of atypical antipsychotics, stimulants

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Early Fitbit

Experimental group

Description:

Patients will receive Fitbit in the first phase of the study. In addition to attending weekly weight management classes, patients will wear Fitbit Charge HR devices to track heart rate, "active minutes," steps taken, calories burned, and sleep patterns. Patients will receive weekly phone calls to review this data, and further recommendations will be given to encourage additional physical activity as clinically indicated based on time spent being physically active. The goal will be for individuals to reach 10,000 steps per day, though if subjects are significantly under that goal, realistic goal-setting (recommended increases of physical activity of 10% at a time). Patients will continue this intervention for 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, they will return for reassessment. This coincides with the completion of the weight loss program. Subjects will then be followed remotely for another 12 weeks and phone call interventions will continue before returning for a final study visit.

Treatment:

Other: Fitbit Charge HR plus weekly phone calls to review physical activity data

Late/Delayed Fitbit

Active Comparator group

Description:

These subjects will follow a similar pattern except they will not receive Fitbit Charge HR devices until the second phase of the study (specifically after completion of the 12 week weight loss program). In the first phase, these subjects will receive weekly phone calls to offer them the same attention as the experimental group, but instead of reviewing Fitbit data, these subjects will subjectively report their physical activity in minutes and by qualifying their physical activity as light, moderate, or vigorous. These individuals, after 12 weeks, will return for reassessment. At that time, these individuals will receive Fitbits and receive weekly telephone calls for an additional 12 weeks before returning for a final study visit.

Treatment:

Other: Fitbit Charge HR plus weekly phone calls to review physical activity data