The Theory, Development, and Implementation of an e-Intervention to Prevent Excessive Gestational Weight Gain: e-Moms Roc

Abstract

Background: Gaining more weight during pregnancy than is recommended by the Institute of Medicine is prevalent and contributes to the development of obesity in women. This article describes the development and use of e-Moms of Rochester (eMoms Roc), an electronic intervention (e-intervention), to address this health issue in a socioeconomically diverse sample of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: Formative research in the form of intercept interviews, in-depth interviews, and focus groups was conducted to inform the design of the e-intervention. The Web site continuously tracked each participant's use of e-intervention features. Results: An e-intervention, including Web site and mobile phone components, was developed and implemented in a randomized control trial. Formative research informed the design. Participants in all arms accessed blogs, local resources, articles, frequently asked questions, and events. Participants in the intervention arms also accessed the weight gain tracker and diet and physical activity goal-setting tools. Overall, 80% of women logged into the Web site and used a tool or feature at least twice. Among those in the intervention arm, 70% used the weight gain tracker, but only 40% used the diet and physical activity goal-setting tools. Conclusions: To maximize and sustain potential usage of e-Moms Roc over time, the e-intervention included customized reminders, tailored content, and community features such as blogs and resources. Usage was comparable to those in other weight studies with young adults and higher than reported in a published study with pregnant women. This e-intervention specifically designed for pregnant women was used by the majority of women.

Theory Driven Mobile-Based Interventions: A Scoping Review

“…Also described in Table 3, the majority of the studies were randomized trials (n=12) 6,8,9,17,18,[21][22][23][27][28][29]31 ; followed by randomized controlled pilot studies (n=3) 7,10,25 ; convenience sample pilot studies (n=2) 1,24 ; quasi experimental (n=1) 30 ; mixed method observation cohort study (n=1) 11 ; and prospective cohort study (n=1) 32 .…”

“…Self Determination Theory guided two (n=2) interventions in studies focused on weight loss and alcohol relapse prevention 21,28 . Fog's Behavioral Model guided two (n=2) interventions focused on preventing gestational weight gain and cervical cancer screening 29,30 . Theory of Planned…”

“…Sexual Script Theory, Behavioral Determinants Model, Common Sense Model, Self-Regulation Theory, Integrative Model of Behavior Intervention, and the Information Motivation Behavior Model were applied least frequently and focused on studies related to weight loss, HIV risk behavior, sexual risk reduction, and prevention of gestational weight gain 1,8,22,29,31,32 .…”

“…As described in Table 3, over half of studies were set in the United States 6,[9][10][11]22,23,[28][29][30][31][32] . Outside of the US, study locations included Australia (n=3) 7,21,25 , New Zealand (n=2) 1,18 , Netherlands, Canada, United Kingdom, and India 8,17,24,27 .…”

“…Sample size and gender also varied greatly. Sample sizes ranged from as low 29 . Six studies were targeted only for women 7,9,22,29,30,32 , whereas only one study focused solely on male participants 27 .…”