JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Hispanic males have disproportionate rates of overweight and obesity compared to other racial and ethnic subpopulations. Few weight loss interventions, however, have been developed specifically for this high-risk group. Further, the use of mobile health (mHealth) technologies to support lifestyle behavior changes in weight loss interventions for Hispanic men are largely untested.

Objective:

This single arm pilot study examined the feasibility and acceptability of integrating mHealth technology into a 12-week gender- and culturally-sensitive weight loss intervention (GCSWLI) for Hispanic men with overweight and obesity.

Methods:

Eighteen Hispanic males (age: 38 ± 10.9 years; BMI: 34.3 ± 5.5 kg/m²; 55.6% Spanish monolingual) received a GCSWLI including weekly in-person individual sessions, a daily calorie goal, and prescription of ≥225 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity/week. mHealth technology support included: tailored text messaging, behavior self-monitoring support using the Fitbit Charge 2, and weight tracking using a Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale. Changes in weight from baseline to 12-weeks were estimated using a paired t-test. Descriptive analyses characterized use of the Fitbit and smart scale. Semi-structured interviews were conducted immediately post intervention to assess participants weight loss experiences and perspectives of mHealth technologies.

Results:

Sixteen of 18 participants completed 12-week assessments; overall attrition rate was 11.1%. Mean weight loss at week 12 was -4.7 kg (95% CI [-7.1, -2.4], p<0.001). Participants wore the Fitbit 71.6% of intervention days and logged body weight using the smart scale 30.5% of intervention days. Participants identified barriers for use of the technology such as lack of tech-literacy and unreliable internet access for the smart scale.

Conclusions:

While clinically significant weight loss was achieved integrating mHealth technology into a GCSWLI, the adherence to prescribed use of technology was modest. Addressing barriers in the utilization of such technologies identified in our work may help to refine an mHealth intervention approach for Hispanic men.