The effect of a supplemental telephonic physical activity coaching program for treating obesity: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of a supplemental telephonic physical activity coaching program based on Active Living Every Day (ALED) when combined with the services of a specialty medical practice on weight loss, body and truncal fat reduction, and blood pressure improvement when treating obese persons over six months. Setting: Participants were recruited from the Minnesota Center for Obesity, Metabolism and Endocrinology (MNCOME) specialty medical practice. Methods: Forty obese adults participated in the study. The design was a single-blinded, randomized controlled trial, with participants randomized to receive either: (1) treatment group which included telephonic physical activity coaching with pedometer-based tracking and active participation with MNCOME or (2) control group which included only active participation with MNCOME. Measures for all variables were assessed at baseline and six months. Results: Weight, body and truncal fat, and blood pressure variables did not differ significantly between groups after six months. However, the results indicate that both telephonic coaching and control groups achieved a statistically significant within-group difference from baseline to a period of six-months for mean weight losses of 14.7 ± 3.4 (p ≤ 0.002) and 15.4 ± 3.2 lbs (p ≤ 0.001) respectively, but not for any other variables under consideration. A greater percentage of initial weight loss was achieved on average by the telephonic coaching group of 6.5% than the control group of 5.9% after six months. However, a greater percentage of the control group (61%) achieved the 5-10% weight loss goal than the telephonic coaching group (44%) over six months. Conclusion: At the present time, this is the only study to evaluate the impact of a supplemental telephonic physical activity coaching program based on ALED to the services of a medical specialty care clinic for the purpose of treating obesity. However, the findings suggest that there is no significant impact when such a program is added to MNCOME for improvements in weight, body composition, and blood pressure over six months based on the number of obese participants of this trial.