The Effects of e-Mobile Training and Consultancy Services on Bariatric Surgery Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

PURPOSE: This study was conducted as a randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of e-mobile training and consultancy services on self-care agency, body image, and quality of life in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was conducted as a randomized controlled interventional study. The sample of the study consisted of 51 patients who met the sample selection criteria and volunteered to participate in the study in the Obesity Center of a City Hospital. The patients in the experimental group received e-mobile training and consultancy services with a mobile application developed specifically for bariatric surgery that started before the operation and lasted for 3 months after the operation. CONSORT checklist was used to report the current study. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found in the mean scores of Self-Care Agency Scale, Body Image Scale, Moorehead-Ardelt Quality of Life II, and BMI of the patients in the experimental and control groups according to the processes (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of preoperative, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd months of Self-Care Agency, Body Image, and Quality of Life scale mean scores (p > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in favor of the experimental group in terms of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd month BMI averages (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that e-mobile training and consultation services given to patients undergoing bariatric surgery were effective in BMI measurements, but not on self-care agency, body image, and quality of life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05278767. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]