title: Effect of the Intervention Based on New Communication Technologies and the Social-Cognitive Theory on the Weight Control of the Employees with Overweight and Obesity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Work settings provide a unique opportunity for health promotion interventions. Considering the issue of obesity in employees, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the intervention based on new communication technologies and the social cognitive theory on weight control in the governmental employees of Hamadan City, western Iran in 2014.
  
  
  METHODS
  This randomized control trial study was conducted in "telephone- assisted intervention", "web- assisted intervention", and "control" groups comprising 435 employees of Hamadan City with overweight or obesity in 2014 (Ethics Committee Code: 93/D/130/1139). The educational intervention was performed for 6 months under the title of "lifestyle program". Then, the participants were evaluated in terms of weight and changes in the constructs of the social-cognitive theory 6 and 9 months after the intervention. A researcher-made questionnaire based on the Dishman and Dewar questionnaires was used to evaluate the constructs of social-cognitive theory. The data were collected and analyzed using SPSS-20.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The lifestyle intervention resulted in a weight loss of 1.92 and 1.08 kg in the telephone-assisted and web-assisted intervention groups, respectively. The intervention in the telephone-assisted group increased the mean scores of the constructs of self-efficacy (P=0.001), environment (P=0.001), outcome expectations (P=0.040), and outcome expectancies (P=0.001) among participants. In the web-assisted intervention group, the mean scores of the constructs of self-efficacy (P=0.001) and outcome expectancies (P=0.020) increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed the effectiveness of the intervention based on new communication technologies and the Social-Cognitive Theory. Future studies with more retention strategies regarding self-efficacy and environment constructs are needed to further explain the application of SCT and technology-based approaches to reduce obese and overweight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. j-abdi@alumnus.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Jalal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abdi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eftekhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmoodi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Davood
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shojayzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000379:methods*; D050177:Overweight / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Employees; Iran; Obesity; Overweight; Social-cognitive theory