Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Oct 7, 2022
Date Accepted: Jan 25, 2023
Effect of the mHealth app (KENPO-app) for specific health guidance on weight changes in adults with obesity and hypertension: A pilot randomized controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
In 2008, all health insurers in Japan were mandated to provide specific health guidance (SHG) to prevent metabolic syndrome (MetS), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged adults in Japan. In addition, the efficacy of SHG was small, and repeater eligibility for SHG was a problematic issue. The evaluation of outcome (i.e., ≥2 kg of weight loss) will be performed, and a mobile healthcare app will be introduced to the SHG. Commercial smartphone apps that promote self-monitoring of weight loss are widely available. The development of disease-specific apps has begun, but there is no app for SHG. Therefore, we developed the SHG-specific mHealth app (KENPO-app), and this study aimed to determine its efficacy in facilitating weight loss in Japanese adults with obesity and hypertension.
Objective:
This study aimed to determine the efficacy of specific health guidance (SHG) mHealth app in facilitating weight loss in Japanese adults with obesity.
Methods:
In a 12-week, statistician-blinded, randomized controlled trial, 78 overweight and obese men aged 40–69 years were assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either the usual support plus KENPO-app group (intervention group) or the usual support group (active control group). The KENPO app had chatbot-support feedback and information provision combined with a self-monitoring tool (weight, steps, and blood pressure).
Results:
The trial retention was 94.9%. Compared with the active control group, the median body weight and body mass index of the intervention group significantly decreased at 3 months (-0.4 [-2.0, 0.6] vs. -1.1 [-2.7, -0.5] kg, P=0.026; -0.1 [-0.6, 0.3] vs. -0.4 [-0.8, -0.2] kg, P=0.022, respectively). The intervention increased the percentage of participants taking ≥8,000 steps, vegetable intake before rice, slow eating speed, and relaxation. Personality traits were associated with the degree of weight loss in the intervention group.
Conclusions:
The SHG-specific KENPO-app was feasible and induced modest but significant weight loss in adults with obesity. Clinical Trial: Registration No. of the study/trial: Trial registration number: University hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) Center: UMIN000046263).
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