Implementation of a digital health tool (“Gro Health”) for patients awaiting input from a specialist weight management team (Preprint)

Abstract

Digital tools are increasingly used on a population level as a weight loss strategy for people living with overweight and obesity. Evidence supports feasibility of digital tools for management of obesity in community setting, but there is only emerging evidence for a feasibility of such tools in specialist weight management services. No study has assessed uptake of digital tools among patients awaiting their first appointment with a specialist weight management service.

The objective of this study was to understand the interest, acceptance and engagement with a digital behavioural change platform to support specialist weight management.

This was an observational study registered as a service innovation. All patients on the waiting list for a first appointment in the Tier 3 Weight Management service at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust were eligible to access the NHS approved digital tool. Data on interest and engagement with the digital tool were collected. Routine clinical data were used to describe patient demographics. Focus groups were held to explore patients’ views on the use of digital tools as part of specialist weight management service.

199 patients on the waiting list were informed about the available digital tool. Just over a half (51.3%; n=102) of patients were interested in using the app, with over one third (34.2%; n=68) of all patients engaging with the app. Overall, a third of patients on the waiting list (31.7%; n=63) did not respond to the invite and 34 (17.1%) of patients expressed no interest in the app. Emotional eating and higher BMI was associated with interest in the Gro Health app. Male gender was associated with reduced engagement with the app. There were no differences in interest in the Gro Health app according to age, ethnicity, metabolic measures of glycaemia and lipid profile.

It is feasible to offer digital tools to patients awaiting their first appointment with specialist weight management services. Future research should explore barriers and facilitators of engagement with digital tools. Additionally, there is a need to further evaluate effectiveness of such tools in specialist weight management services.