Mobile Phone Short Message Service (SMS) for Weight Management in Iranian Overweight and Obese Women: A Pilot Study

Abstract

We conducted a text message-based intervention for weight management over three months by two months intervention and one month wash-out period. In a quasi-experimental study with control (n = 40) and experimental group (n = 40), 80 overweight and obese employed women were entered. Participants were recruited via announcement. All subjects attended a face-to-face information session and received a booklet that contained food calorie chart and strategies and recommendations for weight management. The experimental group received text messages (SMS) about weight management twice a day for two months, in addition to the information and the booklet which they had received in the information session. Also, the experimental group was instructed to weekly self-weight and to send the data to the principle researcher. All subjects were measured for baseline and secondary weight in a standardized manner by a nurse, and the data were compared between the two groups. Experimental group lost more weight than the control group (1.5 kg difference, P = 0.018). Text messaging seems to be an effective channel of communication for weight management in Iranian overweight and obese women. The clinical trial registration number is IRCT201204029360N1.

A systematic review with meta‐analyses of text message‐delivered behaviour change interventions for weight loss and weight loss maintenance

“…Fifteen studies were includedof which 12 focused on weight loss and three on weight loss maintenance . The studies were published between 2009 and 2017.…”

“…Fourteen studies were individual randomised controlled trials (RCTs), one was a quasi‐RCT . Most studies (n = 14) were two‐armed trials comparing an intervention to a control group.…”

“…Sample sizes ranged from 30 to 710 participants . Five studies included fewer than 100 participants, six included between 100 and 200 participants, three between 200 and one 500 participants, and over 500 participants . The median number of participants per study was 125 (IQR 90 to 107.75).…”

“…For the 2716 participants in the 15 studies, the weighted average age was 47.6 years. Two studies included women only . The remaining 13 studies contained both men and women.…”

Increasing Physical Activity Efficiently: An Experimental Pilot Study of a Website and Mobile Phone Intervention

“…Interventions using SMS as the primary delivery channel have also shown promising results for health care interventions [11]. In 2013 there were almost as many mobile-cellular subscriptions as people in the world [32].…”