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The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Rising levels of obesity coupled with the limited success of currently available weight control methods highlight the need for investigation of novel approaches to obesity treatment. This study aims to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an Internet-based resource for o...

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Autores principales: McConnon, Áine, Kirk, Sara FL, Cockroft, Jennie E, Harvey, Emma L, Greenwood, Darren C, Thomas, James D, Ransley, Joan K, Bojke, Laura
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2007
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2228294/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18093289
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-7-206
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author McConnon, Áine
Kirk, Sara FL
Cockroft, Jennie E
Harvey, Emma L
Greenwood, Darren C
Thomas, James D
Ransley, Joan K
Bojke, Laura
author_facet McConnon, Áine
Kirk, Sara FL
Cockroft, Jennie E
Harvey, Emma L
Greenwood, Darren C
Thomas, James D
Ransley, Joan K
Bojke, Laura
author_sort McConnon, Áine
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Rising levels of obesity coupled with the limited success of currently available weight control methods highlight the need for investigation of novel approaches to obesity treatment. This study aims to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an Internet-based resource for obesity management. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial conducted in a community setting, where obese volunteers (n = 221) were randomly assigned to Internet group (n = 111) or usual care group (n = 110). Objective measures of weight and height were obtained. Questionnaires were used to collect dietary, lifestyle, physical activity and quality of life data. Data were collected at baseline, six months and 12 months. RESULTS: Data were collected on 54 (49%) participants in the Internet group and 77 (70%) participants in the usual care group at 12 months. Based on analysis conducted on all available data, the Internet group lost 1.3 kg, compared with 1.9 kg weight loss in the usual care group at 12 months, a non-significant difference (difference = 0.6 kg; 95% CI: -1.4 to 2.5, p = 0.56). No significant differences in change in secondary outcome measures between the two groups at six or 12 months were revealed. Total costs per person per year were higher in the Internet group than the usual care group (£992.40 compared to £276.12), primarily due to the fixed costs associated with setting up the website, and QALYs were similar (0.78 and 0.77) for both groups. CONCLUSION: This trial failed to show any additional benefit of this website in terms of weight loss or secondary outcome measures compared with usual care. High attrition and low compliance limits the results of this research. The results suggest that the Internet-based weight control resource was not a cost-effective tool for weight loss in the obese sample studied. TRAIL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 58621669
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spelling pubmed-22282942008-02-05 The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial McConnon, Áine Kirk, Sara FL Cockroft, Jennie E Harvey, Emma L Greenwood, Darren C Thomas, James D Ransley, Joan K Bojke, Laura BMC Health Serv Res Research Article BACKGROUND: Rising levels of obesity coupled with the limited success of currently available weight control methods highlight the need for investigation of novel approaches to obesity treatment. This study aims to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an Internet-based resource for obesity management. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial conducted in a community setting, where obese volunteers (n = 221) were randomly assigned to Internet group (n = 111) or usual care group (n = 110). Objective measures of weight and height were obtained. Questionnaires were used to collect dietary, lifestyle, physical activity and quality of life data. Data were collected at baseline, six months and 12 months. RESULTS: Data were collected on 54 (49%) participants in the Internet group and 77 (70%) participants in the usual care group at 12 months. Based on analysis conducted on all available data, the Internet group lost 1.3 kg, compared with 1.9 kg weight loss in the usual care group at 12 months, a non-significant difference (difference = 0.6 kg; 95% CI: -1.4 to 2.5, p = 0.56). No significant differences in change in secondary outcome measures between the two groups at six or 12 months were revealed. Total costs per person per year were higher in the Internet group than the usual care group (£992.40 compared to £276.12), primarily due to the fixed costs associated with setting up the website, and QALYs were similar (0.78 and 0.77) for both groups. CONCLUSION: This trial failed to show any additional benefit of this website in terms of weight loss or secondary outcome measures compared with usual care. High attrition and low compliance limits the results of this research. The results suggest that the Internet-based weight control resource was not a cost-effective tool for weight loss in the obese sample studied. TRAIL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 58621669 BioMed Central 2007-12-19 /pmc/articles/PMC2228294/ /pubmed/18093289 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-7-206 Text en Copyright © 2007 McConnon et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
McConnon, Áine
Kirk, Sara FL
Cockroft, Jennie E
Harvey, Emma L
Greenwood, Darren C
Thomas, James D
Ransley, Joan K
Bojke, Laura
The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial
title The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial
title_full The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial
title_fullStr The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial
title_short The Internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial
title_sort internet for weight control in an obese sample: results of a randomised controlled trial
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2228294/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18093289
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-7-206
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