JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Our aim was to evaluate a telemedicine intervention program dedicated to the promotion of physical activity including teleconsultation and telemonitoring following bariatric surgery. This study was an open label randomized controlled trial. Patients were included during the first week after bariatric surgery then randomized in two groups of telemedicine intervention: (i) physical coaching focusing on mobility (=TelePhys group) or (ii) dietary coaching (=TeleDiet group). The primary outcome was the difference in the delta number of steps measured during a period of 14 days at the first and sixth postoperative months between the two groups. Data were collected using the connected wireless watch pedometer. Body weight evolution and health-related quality of life were also evaluated. Ninety patients with mean age (SD) 40.6 years (+/-10.3) were included. Seventy-three patients were females (81%) and 62 had gastric bypass (69%). An increase of the mean number of steps between the first and the sixth month was found in both groups but this delta was significant only in the TeleDiet group (p=0.010). No difference was found when comparing the delta between the two intervention groups. A significant increase in quality of life was observed in both groups without any significant differences between the two interventions. Our study was not able to show a significant superiority of a telemedicine intervention dedicated to physical activity in mobility recovery after bariatric surgery. The early postoperative time frame for our intervention may explain our findings. Further research will need to focus on long-term interventions.