A weight management intervention delivered virtually via video conferencing helped participants lose weight, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology & Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity & Metabolism Scientific Sessions 2014.
Forty-seven obese men (21-60 years-old) participated in a 12-week group weight management intervention led by a healthcare provider. They were assigned to start the intervention immediately or three months later.
"This is a first attempt to deliver group-based healthcare services remotely, in a face-to-face virtual environment," said Kristen M.J. Azar, R.N., M.S.N./M.P.H., one of the study's authors and assistant nurse researcher at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in Palo Alto, Calif. "In each intervention, eight participants attended meetings from their homes or offices, or any location of their choosing.
Participants even joined the weekly meetings from different states in the United States and different countries while on business trips and vacation."
The researchers found:
More studies are needed to explore cost-effectiveness, what populations may be best suited and how to best deliver the intervention in primary care settings, Azar said.
Co-authors are Magi Aurora, B.S.; Elsie J. Wang, M.S.; Amy Muzaffar, M.D.; Alice Pressman, Ph.D., M.S.; and Latha Palaniappan, M.D., M.S. Author disclosures are on the abstract.
The Verizon Foundation funded the study.
Disclosures are listed on the abstract
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