Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2019
Date Accepted: May 14, 2020
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Do pregnant women with overweight and obesity find a nutrition and exercise intervention with smartphone app support acceptable? Findings from the PEARs randomized controlled trial.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Dietary interventions can improve pregnancy outcomes amongst women with increased BMI. Furthermore, interest in mobile health (mHealth) is growing but little is known about the acceptability of a smartphone app to support lifestyle interventions among such a cohort.
Objective:
We aimed to assess the acceptability of the PEARs study and the use of mHealth in a mixed lifestyle intervention.
Methods:
PEARs was a randomised controlled trial of a low glycaemic index (GI) dietary intervention with exercise prescription and smartphone app, delivered to pregnant women with overweight and obesity. This is a cross-sectional study of the acceptability questionnaires completed by the intervention group at 28 weeks’ gestation (n = 149) and post-intervention (n = 123). Maternal characteristics were recorded (age, ethnicity, BMI, socioeconomic status). Associations between maternal characteristics and acceptability of the intervention and app were analysed using t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, chi-squares and logistic regression.
Results:
The intervention was generally accepted, with respondents agreeing that the diet was easy to follow (68.5%), enjoyable (74.1%) and affordable (76.9%). App acceptability was high, with participants agreeing that it was enjoyable (80%) and easy to use (97.5%). Compared to those with tertiary education, those with lower education were more likely to enjoy the dietary changes (P = .039). Enjoyment of the app was associated with disadvantaged neighbourhood deprivation index (P = .012) and higher BMI (B = .172, P = .029).
Conclusions:
The PEARs intervention and use of a supportive smartphone app were accepted by pregnant women, particularly by those from vulnerable subgroups of the population. Clinical Trial: https://www.isrctn.com/, ISRCTN29316280
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