van Beurden Samantha B, Simmons Sally I, Tang Jason C H, Mewse Avril J, Abraham Charles, Greaves Colin J
1University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
3School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
BMC Obes. 2018 Feb 12;5:7. doi: 10.1186/s40608-018-0184-6. eCollection 2018.
The internet is a potentially promising medium for delivering weight loss interventions. The current study sought to explore factors that might influence primary care patients' initial uptake and continued use (up to four-weeks) of such programmes to help inform the development of novel, or refinement of existing, weight management interventions.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 patients purposively sampled based on age, gender and BMI from a single rural general practice. The interviews were conducted 4 weeks after recruitment at the general practice and focused on experiences with using one of three freely available weight loss websites. Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data.
Findings suggested that patients were initially motivated to engage with internet-based weight loss programmes by their accessibility and novelty. However, continued use was influenced by substantial facilitators and barriers, such as time and effort involved, reaction to prompts/reminders, and usefulness of information. Facilitation by face-to-face consultations with the GP was reported to be helpful in supporting change.
Although primary care patients may not be ready yet to solely depend on online interventions for weight loss, their willingness to use them shows potential for use alongside face-to-face weight management advice or intervention. Recommendations to minimise barriers to engagement are provided.
互联网是提供减肥干预措施的一个潜在有前景的媒介。当前研究旨在探索可能影响初级保健患者对这类项目的初始接受度和持续使用情况（长达四周）的因素，以帮助为新型体重管理干预措施的开发或现有措施的完善提供信息。
从一个单一的农村全科诊所，基于年龄、性别和体重指数，有目的地抽取20名患者进行半结构化访谈。访谈在患者在全科诊所招募四周后进行，重点是使用三个免费减肥网站之一的体验。采用主题分析法对数据进行分析。
研究结果表明，患者最初因网络减肥项目的可及性和新颖性而有参与的动机。然而，持续使用受到诸多促进因素和障碍的影响，如所涉及的时间和精力、对提示/提醒的反应以及信息的有用性。据报告，与全科医生进行面对面咨询的促进作用有助于支持改变。
虽然初级保健患者可能尚未准备好完全依赖在线减肥干预措施，但他们使用这些措施的意愿表明，其有潜力与面对面的体重管理建议或干预措施一起使用。文中提供了减少参与障碍的建议。
