Abstract
BackgroundGeneral health promoting campaigns are often not targeted at the people who need them the most. Web- and app-based tools are a new way to reach, motivate, and help people with poor health status.ObjectiveThe aim of our study was to test a Web- and mobile app-based tool (“SoSu-life”) on employees in the social welfare and health care sector in Denmark.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was carried out as a workplace intervention. The tool was designed to help users make healthy lifestyle changes such as losing weight, exercise more, and quit smoking. A team competition between the participating workplaces took place during the first 16 weeks of the intervention. Twenty nursing homes for elderly people in 6 municipalities in Denmark participated in the study. The employees at the nursing homes were randomized either 1:1 or 2:1 on a municipality level to use the SoSu-life tool or to serve as a control group with no intervention. All participants underwent baseline measurements including body weight, waist circumference, body fat percentage, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol level and they filled in a questionnaire covering various aspects of health. The participants were measured again after 16 and 38 weeks.ResultsA total of 566 (SoSu-life: n=355, control: n=211) participants were included in the study. At 16 weeks there were 369 participants still in the study (SoSu-life: n=227, control: n=142) and 269 participants completed the 38 week intervention (SoSu-life: n=152, control: n=117). At 38 weeks, the SoSu-life group had a larger decrease in body weight (−1.01 kg, P=.03), body fat percentage (−0.8%, P=.03), and waist circumference (−1.8 cm, P=.007) compared with the control group.ConclusionsThe SoSu-life Web- and app-based tool had a modest yet beneficial effect on body weight and body fat percentage in the health care sector staff.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT02438059; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02438059 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6i6y4p2AS)
Highlights
BackgroundPublic health promoting campaigns have trouble reaching the socioeconomically disadvantaged groups [1] who really need them, and most face-to-face or telephone based interventions are generally considered too costly
The need for effective tools for promoting health is evident from the recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO), which shows that overall health status in Europe is improving, but that the variation in health status is increasing both within and between countries [3]
We have found no previous studies that have combined the use of a workplace Web-based health promoting program with a social feature
Summary
BackgroundPublic health promoting campaigns have trouble reaching the socioeconomically disadvantaged groups [1] who really need them, and most face-to-face or telephone based interventions are generally considered too costly. Web- and app-based tools have been suggested as a new and potentially cost-effective way to reach out to, motivate, and help people to improve their health [2]. Web- and app-based tools for health promotion have been shown to have potential for weight loss programs and improving other health related factors. Web- and app-based tools are a new way to reach, motivate, and help people with poor health status. The employees at the nursing homes were randomized either 1:1 or 2:1 on a municipality level to use the SoSu-life tool or to serve as a control group with no intervention. Conclusions: The SoSu-life Web- and app-based tool had a modest yet beneficial effect on body weight and body fat percentage in the health care sector staff. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02438059; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02438059 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6i6y4p2AS)
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