title: Characteristics of European adults who dropped out from the Food4Me Internet-based personalised nutrition intervention.
abstract: To characterise participants who dropped out of the Food4Me Proof-of-Principle study.
  
  
  
  The Food4Me study was an Internet-based, 6-month, four-arm, randomised controlled trial. The control group received generalised dietary and lifestyle recommendations, whereas participants randomised to three different levels of personalised nutrition (PN) received advice based on dietary, phenotypic and/or genotypic data, respectively (with either more or less frequent feedback).
  
  
  
  Seven recruitment sites: UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Poland and Greece.
  
  
  
  Adults aged 18-79 years (n 1607).
  
  
  
  A total of 337 (21 %) participants dropped out during the intervention. At baseline, dropouts had higher BMI (0·5 kg/m2; P<0·001). Attrition did not differ significantly between individuals receiving generalised dietary guidelines (Control) and those randomised to PN. Participants were more likely to drop out (OR; 95 % CI) if they received more frequent feedback (1·81; 1·36, 2·41; P<0·001), were female (1·38; 1·06, 1·78; P=0·015), less than 45 years old (2·57; 1·95, 3·39; P<0·001) and obese (2·25; 1·47, 3·43; P<0·001). Attrition was more likely in participants who reported an interest in losing weight (1·53; 1·19, 1·97; P<0·001) or skipping meals (1·75; 1·16, 2·65; P=0·008), and less likely if participants claimed to eat healthily frequently (0·62; 0·45, 0·86; P=0·003).
  
  
  
  Attrition did not differ between participants receiving generalised or PN advice but more frequent feedback was related to attrition for those randomised to PN interventions. Better strategies are required to minimise dropouts among younger and obese individuals participating in PN interventions and more frequent feedback may be an unnecessary burden.
authors: 1Human Nutrition Research Centre,Institute of Cellular Medicine,Newcastle University,Biomedical Research Building,Campus for Ageing and Vitality,Newcastle upon Tyne,NE4 5PL,UK.
authors: Katherine M
authors: 0000-0002-9682-7541
authors: KM
authors: Livingstone
authors: 1Human Nutrition Research Centre,Institute of Cellular Medicine,Newcastle University,Biomedical Research Building,Campus for Ageing and Vitality,Newcastle upon Tyne,NE4 5PL,UK.
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Celis-Morales
authors: 2Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition and Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research,University of Reading,Reading,UK.
authors: Anna L
authors: AL
authors: Macready
authors: 2Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition and Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research,University of Reading,Reading,UK.
authors: Rosalind
authors: R
authors: Fallaize
authors: 3UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin,Dublin,Republic of Ireland.
authors: Hannah
authors: H
authors: Forster
authors: 3UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin,Dublin,Republic of Ireland.
authors: Clara
authors: C
authors: Woolhead
authors: 3UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin,Dublin,Republic of Ireland.
authors: Clare B
authors: CB
authors: O'Donovan
authors: 4Department of Human Biology,NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism,Maastricht University Medical Centre,Maastricht,The Netherlands.
authors: Cyril Fm
authors: CF
authors: Marsaux
authors: 5Center for Nutrition Research,University of Navarra,Pamplona,Spain.
authors: Santiago
authors: S
authors: Navas-Carretero
authors: 6CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn),Instituto de Salud Carlos III,Madrid,Spain.
authors: Rodrigo
authors: R
authors: San-Cristobal
authors: 7ZIEL Research Center of Nutrition and Food Sciences,Biochemistry Unit,Technical University of Munich,Munich,Germany.
authors: Silvia
authors: S
authors: Kolossa
authors: 8Department of Nutrition and Dietetics,Harokopio University,Athens,Greece.
authors: Lydia
authors: L
authors: Tsirigoti
authors: 8Department of Nutrition and Dietetics,Harokopio University,Athens,Greece.
authors: Christina P
authors: CP
authors: Lambrinou
authors: 8Department of Nutrition and Dietetics,Harokopio University,Athens,Greece.
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Moschonis
authors: 9National Food & Nutrition Institute (IZZ),Warsaw,Poland.
authors: Agnieszka
authors: A
authors: Surwiłło
authors: 10Department of Nutrition,Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine,University of Oslo,Oslo,Norway.
authors: Christian A
authors: CA
authors: Drevon
authors: 8Department of Nutrition and Dietetics,Harokopio University,Athens,Greece.
authors: Yannis
authors: Y
authors: Manios
authors: 9National Food & Nutrition Institute (IZZ),Warsaw,Poland.
authors: Iwona
authors: I
authors: Traczyk
authors: 3UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin,Dublin,Republic of Ireland.
authors: Eileen R
authors: ER
authors: Gibney
authors: 3UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin,Dublin,Republic of Ireland.
authors: Lorraine
authors: L
authors: Brennan
authors: 3UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin,Dublin,Republic of Ireland.
authors: Marianne C
authors: MC
authors: Walsh
authors: 2Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition and Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research,University of Reading,Reading,UK.
authors: Julie A
authors: JA
authors: Lovegrove
authors: 6CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn),Instituto de Salud Carlos III,Madrid,Spain.
authors: J Alfredo
authors: JA
authors: Martinez
authors: 4Department of Human Biology,NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism,Maastricht University Medical Centre,Maastricht,The Netherlands.
authors: Wim Hm
authors: WH
authors: Saris
authors: 7ZIEL Research Center of Nutrition and Food Sciences,Biochemistry Unit,Technical University of Munich,Munich,Germany.
authors: Hannelore
authors: H
authors: Daniel
authors: 3UCD Institute of Food and Health,University College Dublin,Dublin,Republic of Ireland.
authors: Mike
authors: M
authors: Gibney
authors: 1Human Nutrition Research Centre,Institute of Cellular Medicine,Newcastle University,Biomedical Research Building,Campus for Ageing and Vitality,Newcastle upon Tyne,NE4 5PL,UK.
authors: John C
authors: JC
authors: Mathers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D000072001:Diet, Healthy; D005060:Europe; D015444:Exercise; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009765:Obesity; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dropout; European adults; Food4Me; Internet-based; Personalised nutrition