Abstract MP69: The Weight Loss by Using the Smartphone Application for People with Metabolic Abnormalities: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity has been an important issue for global health. The use of the smartphone application might contribute to weight loss. However, there is still little evidence for the effectiveness among people without overt metabolic disorder. Hypothesis: We assessed the weight loss for people who used the smartphone application with and without personal coaching, with respect to people who did not use any. Methods: A total of 129 participants (aged 30-59 years; 63 men; 66 women) were recruited from the community-based cohort study in Korea during 2017-18. The inclusion criteria were as follows. 1) no cardiovascular disease; 2) no medication for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia; 3) no current use of the application for behavior modification; 4) at least two components of metabolic syndrome (waist circumference ≥ 90/80 cm (men/women), SBP/DBP ≥ 135/85 mmHg, triglyceride ≥ 150 mg/dL, HDL cholesterol < 40/50 mg/dL (men/women), and fasting glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL). Participants were educated for behavior modification and randomly assigned to three groups; CO (control, no use of the application), AO (the application only; without personal coaching) and APC (the application with personal coaching). The weight was measured during a screening examination and follow-up examinations at 1.5, 3 and 6 months from a start date. A linear mixed model including the data from participants who attended the follow-up examination at least once was used to assess the weight loss. Results: A total of 111 participants attended the follow-up examination at least once. The mean (±SD) weight of those at screening was 71.6±12.2 kg. The mean weight loss of participants after 6 months was 0.11±1.6 kg (p = 0.67) in CO, 0.34±2.8 kg (p = 0.45) in AO, and 0.96±2.2 kg (p =0.02) in APC. Compared with the weight loss in CO, there was no significant additional weight loss in AO (0.35 kg; p = 0.41, 0.60 kg after 3 months; p = 0.16 and 0.24 kg after 6 months; p = 0.58), however, there was significant additional weight loss in APC for 3 and 6 months later (0.51 kg after 1.5 months; p = 0.23, 0.93 kg after 3 months; p = 0.03 and 0.87 kg after 6 months; p = 0.04). Conclusions: The use of the application with personal coaching had the effect of losing weight. These results support that the use of the application can be useful for people with metabolic abnormalities that require weight loss.