Testing a self-directed lifestyle intervention among veterans: The D-ELITE pragmatic clinical trial

The recent history and near future of digital health in the field of behavioral medicine: an update on progress from 2019 to 2024

The field of behavioral medicine has a long and successful history of leveraging digital health tools to promote health behavior change. Our 2019 summary of the history and future of digital health in behavioral medicine (Arigo in J Behav Med 8: 67-83, 2019) was one of the most highly cited articles in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine from 2010 to 2020; here, we provide an update on the opportunities and challenges we identified in 2019. We address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on behavioral medicine research and practice and highlight some of the digital health advances it prompted. We also describe emerging challenges and opportunities in the evolving ecosystem of digital health in the field of behavioral medicine, including the emergence of new evidence, research methods, and tools to promote health and health behaviors. Specifically, we offer updates on advanced research methods, the science of digital engagement, dissemination and implementation science, and artificial intelligence technologies, including examples of uses in healthcare and behavioral medicine. We also provide recommendations for next steps in these areas with attention to ethics, training, and accessibility considerations. The field of behavioral medicine has made meaningful advances since 2019 and continues to evolve with impressive pace and innovation.

Protocol for a pragmatic trial testing a self-directed lifestyle program targeting weight loss among patients with obstructive sleep apnea (POWER Trial)

BACKGROUND

Obesity comprises the single greatest reversible risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Despite the potential of lifestyle-based weight loss services to improve OSA severity and symptoms, these programs have limited reach. POWER is a pragmatic trial of a remote self-directed weight loss care among patients with OSA.

METHODS

POWER randomizes 696 patients with obesity (BMI 30-45 kg/m2) and recent diagnosis or re-confirmation of OSA 1:1 to either a self-directed weight loss intervention or usual care. POWER tests whether such an intervention improves co-primary outcomes of weight and sleep-related quality of life at 12 months. Secondary outcomes include sleep symptoms, global ratings of change, and cardiovascular risk scores. Finally, consistent with a hybrid type 1 approach, the trial embeds an implementation process evaluation. We will use quantitative and qualitative methods including budget impact analyses and qualitative interviews to assess barriers to implementation.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of POWER will inform population health approaches to the delivery of weight loss care. A remote self-directed program has the potential to be disseminated widely with limited health system resources and likely low-cost.

"We bleed for our community:" A qualitative exploration of the implementation of a pragmatic weight gain prevention trial from the perspectives of community health center professionals

BACKGROUND

Clinical trial implementation continues to shift toward pragmatic design, with the goal of increasing future adoption in clinical practice. Yet, few pragmatic trials within clinical settings have qualitatively assessed stakeholder input, especially from those most impacted by research implementation and outcomes, i.e., providers and staff. Within this context, we conducted a qualitative study of the implementation of a pragmatic digital health obesity trial with employees at a Federally qualified health center (FQHC) network in central North Carolina.

METHODS

Participant recruitment was conducted through purposive sampling of FQHC employees from a variety of backgrounds. Two researchers conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews and collected demographic data. Interviews were digitally recorded, professionally transcribed and double-coded by two independent researchers using NVivo 12. Coding discrepancies were reviewed by a third researcher until intercoder consensus was reached. Responses were compared within and across participants to elucidate emergent themes.

RESULTS

Eighteen qualitative interviews were conducted, of whom 39% provided direct medical care to patients and 44% worked at the FQHC for at least seven years. Results illuminated the challenges and successes of a pragmatically designed obesity treatment intervention within the community that serves medically vulnerable patients. Although limited time and staffing shortages may have challenged recruitment processes, respondents described early buy-in from leadership; an alignment of organizational and research goals; and consideration of patient needs as facilitators to implementation. Respondents also described the need for personnel power to sustain novel research interventions and considerations of health center resource constraints.

CONCLUSIONS

Results from this study contribute to the limited literature on pragmatic trials utilizing qualitative methods, particularly in community-based obesity treatment. To continue to merge the gaps between research implementation and clinical care, qualitative assessments that solicit stakeholder input are needed within pragmatic trial design. For maximum impact, researchers may wish to solicit input from a variety of professionals at trial onset and ensure that shared common goals and open collaboration between all partners is maintained throughout the trial.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03003403) on December 28, 2016.

Effect of a Remotely Delivered Self-directed Behavioral Intervention on Body Weight and Physical Health Status Among Adults With Obesity: The D-ELITE Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

The effectiveness of remotely delivered, self-directed, weight loss programs in routine clinical practice is largely unknown.

Objective

To test whether a self-directed, remotely administered behavioral lifestyle intervention improves weight and self-reported general health status compared with usual care.

Design, Setting, and Participants

In this randomized clinical trial, 511 adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more and less than 45 (based on electronic health record [EHR] weight and height), were enrolled from 30 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) sites between February 15, 2018, and December 18, 2018 (final follow-up February 18, 2021).

Interventions

Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 254) or the control group (n = 257). Both received usual care. Participants randomized to the intervention received Diabetes Prevention Program-based self-directed videos, handouts, and coaching messages via an online platform or US mail for 12 months.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Coprimary outcomes were weight measured in primary care and recorded in the EHR and self-reported general health status using the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) physical component score (PCS; higher scores are better [range, 0-100]) at the 12-month follow-up. The between-group minimal clinically important differences are 3 kg for weight and 5 points for the SF-12 PCS. Linear mixed models used weights and SF-12 PCS measured at either time point, with participants analyzed according to randomization assignment. Statistical significance for each coprimary outcome was based on a 2-sided α level of .025.

Results

Among 511 participants randomized (mean age, 57.4 [SD, 13.9] years; 231 female [45%]), 429 (84.0%) had EHR-based weights and 410 (80.2%) had SF-12 PCS data at 12 months. The unadjusted mean weight at 12 months declined from 102.7 kg to 99.8 kg in the intervention group compared with 101.9 kg to 101.0 kg in the control group (adjusted between-group mean difference, -1.93 [97.5% CI, -3.24 to -0.61]; P = .001). At 12 months, the unadjusted mean SF-12 PCS scores declined from 44.8 to 44.3 among intervention participants compared with 44.5 to 43.2 among control participants (adjusted between-group mean difference, intervention minus control, 0.69 [97.5% CI, -1.11 to 2.49]; P = .39). Cardiovascular events represented the highest percentage of serious adverse events, accounting for 25% of events in the intervention group and 35% in the control group.

Conclusions and Relevance

Among adults with obesity, a remotely delivered self-directed, behavioral lifestyle intervention, compared with usual care, resulted in statistically significantly greater weight loss at 12 months, although the difference was not clinically important. There was no significant difference in self-reported general physical health status at 12 months.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03260140.

Obesity treatment initiation, retention, and outcomes in the Veterans Affairs MOVE! Program among rural and urban veterans

Objective

Rural veterans have high obesity rates. Yet, little is known about this population's engagement with the Veterans Affairs (VA) weight management program (MOVE!). The study objective is to determine whether MOVE! enrollment, anti-obesity medication use, bariatric surgery use, retention, and outcomes differ by rurality for veterans with severe obesity.

Methods

This is a retrospective cohort study using Veterans Health Administration patient databases, including VA patients with severe obesity during 2015-2017. Patients were categorized using Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes. Primary outcomes included proportion of patients and risk-adjusted likelihood of initiating VA MOVE!, anti-obesity medication, or bariatric surgery and risk-adjusted highly rural|Hazard Ratio (HR) of any obesity treatment. Secondary outcomes included treatment retention (≥12 weeks) and successful weight loss (5%) among patients initiating MOVE!, and risk-adjusted odds of retention and successful weight loss.

Results

Among 640,555 eligible veterans, risk-adjusted relative likelihood of MOVE! treatment was significantly lower for rural and HR veterans (HR = 0.83, HR = 0.67, respectively). Initiation rates of anti-obesity medication use were significantly lower as well, whereas bariatric surgery rates, retention, and successful weight loss did not differ.

Conclusions

Overall treatment rates with MOVE!, bariatric surgery, and anti-obesity medications remain low. Rural veterans are less likely to enroll in MOVE! and less likely to receive anti-obesity medications than urban veterans.

National Veterans Health Administration MOVE! Weight Management Program Participation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction

In response to COVID-19, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) converted appropriate outpatient visits to virtual care, including MOVE! Weight Management Program for Veterans (MOVE!) visits. Before the pandemic, most veterans participated in MOVE! in person, with several telehealth modalities available. We sought to describe national trends in MOVE! participation during the pandemic (March 2020–January 2021) overall and by modality and to compare participation to prepandemic levels.

Methods

We conducted a national retrospective cohort study of veterans who participated in MOVE! from January 2018 through January 2021. We examined MOVE! participation across VHA aggregated at the national level by month, including the number of visits, participants, and new participants in person and via telehealth, including telephone, clinic-to-clinic synchronous video, anywhere-to-anywhere (eg, provider home to patient home) synchronous video, and remote education and monitoring. We also determined the percentage of all MOVE! visits attributable to each modality and the monthly percentage change in participation during the pandemic compared with monthly averages in prior years.

Results

Before March 2020, 20% to 30% of MOVE! was delivered via telehealth, which increased to 90% by April 2020. Early in the pandemic, telephone-delivered MOVE! was the most common modality, but anywhere-to-anywhere synchronous video participation increased over time. Compared with the same months in prior years, total monthly MOVE! participation remained 20% to 40% lower at the end of 2020 and into January 2021.

Conclusion

The VHA MOVE! program rapidly shifted to telehealth delivery of weight management services in response to the pandemic. However, a gap remained in the number of veterans receiving these services compared with prior years, suggesting potential unmet needs for weight management.