Incorporating a Physical Activity mHealth Tool Into a Multidisciplinary Clinical Weight Management Service in...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health and mHealth Interventions
• Obesity and Weight Management
• Physical Activity and Public Health

Background:

• Implementation of Steps4Health, an mHealth tool, within a regional multidisciplinary clinical weight management service.
• Evaluation focused on uptake, usage, wearable device linkage, and impact on stepping behavior in individuals with long-term conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the uptake and usage of the Steps4Health mHealth tool in a clinical weight management service.
• To assess the impact of Steps4Health on stepping behavior among adults with severe obesity.
• To explore the integration of Steps4Health with wearable activity devices.

Main Methods:

• Service evaluation involving adults with severe obesity (BMI ≥40 kg/m2 or ≥35 kg/m2 with comorbidity) from November 2023 to August 2024.
• Eligible participants were offered Steps4Health, featuring personalized goal-setting, feedback, educational resources, and wearable device linkage.
• Data collected over at least 6 weeks included uptake, demographics, usage patterns, and longitudinal stepping data.

Main Results:

• Out of 559 service users, 307 (54.9%) were eligible, with 290 (94.5%) registering for Steps4Health.
• Users logged in an average of 28 times over 6 weeks; educational resources were the most popular feature.
• A clinically meaningful increase of 974 steps/day was observed over the first 6 weeks (P < .001).

Conclusions:

• Steps4Health was utilized by half of the eligible individuals in a regional weight management service.
• Approximately half of the users regularly self-monitored their daily physical activity.
• Steps4Health demonstrates potential as a component of broader strategies to boost physical activity in clinical weight management settings.