Ogden Jane, Maxwell Hazel, Wong Adrian
School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom.
Fittle App Limited (trading as Ladle), London, United Kingdom.
PeerJ. 2019 May 15;7:e6907. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6907. eCollection 2019.
Weight management interventions involving behaviour change often utilise face to face interventions which include evidence based behaviour change strategies yet are costly and time intensive. In contrast, digital interventions cost less and have a wider reach yet tend to lack an evidence base and are less effective.
The present study therefore aimed to develop an evidence based behaviour change low cost app for weight management and to provide a preliminary analysis of its effectiveness.
The Ladle app was developed through evidence review and feedback from health care professionals and patients and consists of a 12 week course focusing on six habits and weight loss facilitated through 36 audio psychological lessons and 12 lessons specifically on the six habits. Each lesson was between 2-5 min (approx. 168 min of lessons). It was evaluated in terms of completion rate, weight loss, adoption of the six habits and participant feedback.
The results showed a completion rate of 44%, that 52% of Completers showed weight loss of at least 5%, 79% showed weight loss of at least 3%, the median % weight lost was -5% and the median weight loss was -3.8 kg. Further, by the end of 12 weeks the majority (>80%) of participants had adopted four of the six habits for at least 5 days a week and nearly half (45%) had adopted the remaining two habits for at least 4 days out of 7. Feedback comments were mainly positive ( = 80) focusing mostly on the content of the lessons. Some comments were neutral ( = 56) and involved a statement of commitment or a description of a challenge and a minority were negative ( = 23) describing some technical issues which were addressed as the evaluation progressed.
The new Ladle app offers an evidenced based alternative to more intensive face to face interventions. On preliminary analysis it would seem to have lower completion rates than some more intensive interventions but comparable effectiveness for weight loss. It can also improve habits and is less time-intensive and costly to deliver. Participant feedback was generally positive.
涉及行为改变的体重管理干预措施通常采用面对面干预，其中包括基于证据的行为改变策略，但成本高昂且耗时。相比之下，数字干预成本较低且覆盖面更广，但往往缺乏证据基础且效果较差。
因此，本研究旨在开发一款基于证据的低成本体重管理行为改变应用程序，并对其有效性进行初步分析。
通过对医疗保健专业人员和患者的证据审查及反馈，开发了Ladle应用程序，它包含一个为期12周的课程，重点关注六种习惯，并通过36节音频心理课程和12节专门针对这六种习惯的课程来促进体重减轻。每节课时长在2至5分钟之间（课程总时长约168分钟）。从完成率、体重减轻、六种习惯的养成情况以及参与者反馈等方面对其进行了评估。
结果显示完成率为44%，52%的完成者体重减轻至少5%，79%的完成者体重减轻至少3%，体重减轻百分比中位数为-5%，体重减轻中位数为-3.8千克。此外，到12周结束时，大多数（>80%）参与者每周至少有5天养成了六种习惯中的四种，近一半（45%）参与者在一周的7天中至少有4天养成了其余两种习惯。反馈意见主要是积极的（n = 80），主要集中在课程内容上。一些意见是中性的（n = 56），包括承诺声明或对挑战的描述，少数意见是负面的（n = 23），描述了一些技术问题，随着评估的进行这些问题得到了解决。
新的Ladle应用程序为更密集的面对面干预提供了一种基于证据的替代方案。初步分析表明，它的完成率似乎低于一些更密集的干预措施，但在体重减轻方面效果相当。它还可以改善习惯，实施起来耗时更少且成本更低。参与者反馈总体上是积极的。
