Electronic Therapeutic Contact for Adolescent Weight Management: The Loozit^® Study

Abstract

Although adolescent engagement was modest, SMS and e-mail communication is a feasible and acceptable adjunct to group lifestyle intervention and telephone coaching in overweight and obese adolescents. Healthy eating messages and those concluding with "please reply" elicited the highest reply rates, and thus these message types should be included in future adolescent e-contact interventions.

Smartphone Interventions for Weight Treatment and Behavioral Change in Pediatric Obesity: A Systematic Review

“…We chose to not include conference abstracts as they did not provide sufficient information about the trial's methodology. All the eligible seven trials stemmed from only two large RCTs extensively published in the last 5 years: ''The Loozit Ò study'' (n = 5 publications) [25][26][27][28][29] and ''The SMSMT (SMS Management Technics) study'' (n = 2 publications). 30,31 To avoid duplication of data, we included only one RCT from each of the two large trials; the publication selected from these large trials was the one that most closely described the effectiveness of smartphone technology for promoting health-related outcomes.…”

“…Because The Loozit study protocol was described elsewhere, 32 the article by Kornman et al 29 did not give precise information about design details. This necessitated reference to the previously published protocol article in order to complete PEDro scale criteria 1-3 and 5-7.…”

“…As both studies required mobile phone usage, participants either received a mobile phone 31 or used their own for the duration of the intervention. 29 Both studies had an intensive phase intervention with a duration of between 2 29 to 3 31 months, followed by a maintenance phase lasting from 10 to 9 months, respectively. Again, both studies delivered intensive phases that focused on behavioral change with a multidisciplinary approach inclusive of physical activity, nutrition, and psychological support for the children and adolescents, as well as sessions for parents.…”

“…However, control group and e-contact group comparisons were only conducted in the SMSMT study. 31 The other trial 29 compared the results of the e-contact with a group who also received the lifestyle intervention.…”

How pharmacy's adoption of social media can enhance patient outcomes

“…23 Another study showed encouraging replies from health care professionals and improved engagement from the patient. 24 Other examples have included reminders for scheduling immunizations, recall of medicines, and reminders regarding medication reviews. 2,8 Other people have proposed, with little retrospective evidence, the potential value of social media in public emergencies and crisis management, and how pharmacists could utilize the media in these situations.…”