Clinical Trial: Web-Based Weight Management for Individuals With Mental Illness

Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title: Web-Based Weight Management for Individuals With Mental Illness

Brief Summary: Obesity and physical inactivity have become serious problems for individuals with mental illness, resulting in increased rates of chronic disease, premature death, and substantial health care costs. Although in-person psychoeducational interventions help individuals with mental illness manage their weight, these interventions are often not used because they require frequent travel to treatment programs and substantial time from clinicians. This project addresses these barriers by developing and evaluating the effectiveness of an web-based computer system that is focused on diet and exercise education, and designed to help individuals with mental illness manage their weight.

Detailed Summary:

Background/Rationale: Obesity and physical inactivity have reached epidemic proportions, resulting in increased rates of chronic disease, premature death, and substantial health care costs. Excess weight is even more prevalent in populations with serious mental illnesses (SMI), in part due to medication-induced weight gain and social disadvantage. Since individuals with SMI often have cognitive deficits, specialized approaches are required to help people manage their weight. Researchers have found that specialized in-person interventions focused on diet and activity can help individuals with SMI manage their weight. However, these evidence-based practices have not been widely disseminated. Barriers to the use of these interventions include reluctance of individuals to participate in groups, difficulty finding transportation for frequent visits to clinics, a shortage of trained clinicians, and inadequate clinician time to provide the interventions. It is likely that these barriers can be addressed with a web-based weight intervention that is tailored for individuals with SMI. Specialized web-based approaches have been studied and found to be effective in this population, and can deliver content that is intensive and engaging with minimal requirements for clinician time.

Objectives: The investigators on this proposal previously developed a prototype web-based system that provides limited diet education to individuals with SMI. The current project extends and evaluates this system. The project's objectives are to: 1) build on the prototype to develop "eWellness," a comprehensive web-based system that delivers an evidence-based weight management program focused on diet and activity, and that meets the needs of individuals with SMI; 2) evaluate the effectiveness, in individuals with SMI, of an eWellness program compared with a control group; and, 3) characterize, fro
Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles

Current Primary Outcome:

  • dietary habits [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • physical activity [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • weight [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • waist circumference [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • diet and activity-related self-efficacy, motivation, and readiness to change [ Time Frame: 6 months ]


Original Primary Outcome:

  • dietary habits [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • physical activity [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • weight [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • waist circumference [ Time Frame: 6 months ]


Current Secondary Outcome:

  • health-related functioning [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • quality of life [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • strengths, weaknesses, and barriers to the use of eWellness [ Time Frame: 6 months ]


Original Secondary Outcome:

  • diet and activity-related self-efficacy, motivation, and readiness to change [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • health-related functioning [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • quality of life [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • strengths, weaknesses, and barriers to the use of eWellness [ Time Frame: 6 months ]


Information By: University of California, Los Angeles

Dates:
Date Received: March 28, 2011
Date Started: March 2012
Date Completion:
Last Updated: June 30, 2014
Last Verified: June 2014