Using telehealth to increase participation in weight maintenance programs.
OBJECTIVE
To compare weight regain, satisfaction, and convenience among three weight maintenance programs: telehealth, traditional classes, and no program.


METHODS
This quasi-experimental study compared weight change, satisfaction, and convenience among three program types. The telehealth participants interacted with a registered dietitian (RD) through the web and e-mail, traditional program participants attended a traditional classroom program, and no program participants received no interaction. Eighty-seven subjects (14 men and 73 women) were enrolled in the study: 31 traditional, 31 telehealth, and 25 no program participants. Eligibility included participation in a community-based weight loss program (Colorado Weigh) and minimum 7% weight loss before enrollment.


RESULTS
Subject characteristics at baseline were as follows: age, 50 +/- 9.3 (standard deviation) years; height, 1.68 +/- 0.09 m; weight, 80.5 +/- 18.4 kg, with no significant differences between groups. Over 6 months, the traditional group lost 0.5 +/- 4.3 kg, the telehealth group lost 0.6 +/- 2.5 kg, and the no program group gained 1.7 +/- 3.0 kg. Weight change among all three groups was significant (p = 0.02); no program participants gained significantly more weight than the telehealth and traditional groups. There were no differences in overall satisfaction between the telehealth and traditional groups (p = 0.43), but individuals in the telehealth group rated their program as more convenient compared with the traditional group (p = 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
These results show the usefulness of telehealth programs in long-term weight loss maintenance. They may be a useful alternative for those who successfully lose weight in a structured behavioral program but do not choose to participate in a formal behavioral weight loss maintenance program.
Haugen
Heather A
HA
Center for Human Nutrition, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado, USA. Heather.haugen@uchsc.edu
Tran
Zung V
ZV
Wyatt
Holly R
HR
Barry
Mary J
MJ
Hill
James O
JO
D000328:Adult; D003120:Colorado; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010358:Patient Participation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017216:Telemedicine; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology*