Effectiveness of SmartMoms, a Novel eHealth Intervention for Management of Gestational Weight Gain: Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Abstract

BackgroundTwo-thirds of pregnant women exceed gestational weight gain (GWG) recommendations. Because excess GWG is associated with adverse outcomes for mother and child, development of scalable and cost-effective approaches to deliver intensive lifestyle programs during pregnancy is urgent.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to decrease the proportion of women who exceed the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2009 GWG guidelines.MethodsIn a parallel-arm randomized controlled trial, 54 pregnant women (age 18-40 years) who were overweight (n=25) or obese (n=29) were enrolled to test whether an intensive lifestyle intervention (called SmartMoms) decreased the proportion of women with excess GWG, defined as exceeding the 2009 IOM guidelines, compared to no intervention (usual care group). The SmartMoms intervention was delivered through mobile phone (remote group) or in a traditional in-person, clinic-based setting (in-person group), and included a personalized dietary intake prescription, self-monitoring weight against a personalized weight graph, activity tracking with a pedometer, receipt of health information, and continuous personalized feedback from counselors.ResultsA significantly smaller proportion of women exceeded the IOM 2009 GWG guidelines in the SmartMoms intervention groups (in-person: 56%, 10/18; remote: 58%, 11/19) compared to usual care (85%, 11/13; P=.02). The remote intervention was a lower cost to participants (mean US $97, SD $6 vs mean US $347, SD $40 per participant; P<.001) and clinics (US $215 vs US $419 per participant) and with increased intervention adherence (76.5% vs 60.8%; P=.049).ConclusionsAn intensive lifestyle intervention for GWG can be effectively delivered via a mobile phone, which is both cost-effective and scalable.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT01610752; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01610752 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6sarNB4iW)

Mobile Apps for the Management of Comorbid Overweight/Obesity and Depression/Anxiety: A Systematic Review

“…e specific uses of mobile apps through the studies were diverse. e Expecting Success study reported in a previous paper [55] that the SmartMoms remote intervention group received a Fitbit device accompanied by its app to selfmonitor body weight and step counts daily. It must be pointed out that SmartMoms intervention was designed to assist an expectant mother in gaining weight within the recommended guidelines.…”

Periconception weight management in the Women, Infants, and Children program

“…Indeed, WIC participants most often only receive two contacts (more if breastfeeding). Combining government resources including universal participant data records for easy transmittal of health information between the entities allows for a continuity of care and implementation of more efficient and effective (32,52). b (4) At each WIC visit, measure weight and plot on a weight gain or weight loss chart showing an ideal weight zone.…”

What are the aims of the implementation of e-solutions in healthcare? Review of the relevant practical studies

“…Therefore, granting public access to seemingly valuable information is not an efficient way to increase awareness of health risks or to support individuals in making healthy choices. Thus it is not surprising that one of the principal aims of eHealth studies is assessing the actual response to the delivered information [6,13].…”

“…In this field, telemedicine became an accepted solution which facilitates the healthcare process while keeping cost under control. There are numerous examples of successful implementations of such projects [6,9,16,20]. Parallel to their achievements, there is a constant need to evaluate the new solutions.…”