Monday-Focused Tailored Rapid Interactive Mobile Messaging for Weight Management 2 (M-TRIMM2)

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Status: Completed

Conditions: Weight Loss; Healthy Diet; Obesity; mHealth

Treatments: Behavioral: Monday-Focused Tailored Rapid Interactive Mobile Messaging for Weight Management; Behavioral: Monday-Focused Written Messages for Weight Management; Behavioral: Educational Materials

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04506996

00007115

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study, involves the implementation and evaluation of a Monday-focused, individually tailored mobile health application to assist overweight or obese adults who would like to achieve a healthful weight. The goal was to evaluate the application of a Monday-focused delivery system for the M-TRIMM2 intervention on participants who worked or lived in areas in or adjacent to Johns Hopkins East Baltimore medical campus.Targeting mobile messaging occurred at strategic intervals throughout each week, with the intent of prompting participants to renew their health resolutions each Monday combined with lifestyle behavioral education.

Full description

The specific aims of this research project are to:

1. Develop a targeted delivery system for mobile health messages which focused on improving physical activity and diet, and setting healthy resolutions each week.
2. Deliver the M-TRIMM intervention, which encourages healthy behavior and the weekly renewal of health resolutions.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention on individuals' weight loss, self-efficacy, and motivation to sustain changes in lifestyle behaviors.
4. Assess the benefit of receiving the message content only (in a paper document), versus a scheduled weekly delivery via mobile messaging.

Enrollment: 154 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 70 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• age ≥ 18 and <71
• BMI > 25
• having a phone that was capable of receiving text-messages and being willing to receive text-messages

Exclusion criteria

• age <18 or ≥ 71
• BMI ≤ 25
• not having a phone that was capable of receiving text-messages or not being willing to receive text-messages

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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154 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention Group - Receiving Text Messages

Experimental group

Description:

The 16-weeks text-messaging intervention centered around 8 goal topics: eating only when hungry, increasing PA, eating a lower fat diet, eating less sugar and reducing calories from beverages, exercising more, eating a balance diet, portion control, and making healthier food choices in social situations. Messaging Sun evening: asked to pick 1 of 3 goal topics Mon morning: received a goal to focus on for the week Mon evening: asked whether plans were made to reach the goal Wed morning: received a tip to help reach goal Wed evening: reminded that if having cravings, text "tip" to automatically receive a tip Fri morning: received end of the week congratulations, encouragement to keep goals in mind over the weekend Fri evening: asked for weight, congratulated if lost weight, or encouraged if no weight lost

Treatment:

Behavioral: Educational Materials

Behavioral: Monday-Focused Tailored Rapid Interactive Mobile Messaging for Weight Management

Control Group - Written Messages

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants in the control group, received a printed copy of the same messages that the intervention group received. However, the first eight-weeks' worth of messages and craving tips were given after the baseline assessment, and the rest were given after the first follow-up assessment (\~ 8 weeks post randomization). The messages for each week were clearly laid out and labeled. Participants were given spaces to record their answers (i.e. to which goal they were selecting for each week). The study staff reviewed the first week's messages together with the study participants to get the participants comfortable with the format that the printed messages were presented in.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Educational Materials

Behavioral: Monday-Focused Written Messages for Weight Management