Engagement and Weight Change in an Online Weight Management Program in Clinical Settings: An Implementation Project.

Area of Science:

• Digital health interventions
• Obesity treatment
• Clinical implementation

Background:

• Urgent need for scalable overweight and obesity treatment strategies in clinical settings.
• Overweight and obesity are significant public health concerns requiring effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate an online weight management program in a large, diverse patient population.
• Assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a digital health program for weight management.

Main Methods:

• Clinical implementation project across primary care and specialty clinics.
• Eligible patients (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² or BMI 25-29.9 kg/m² with risk factors) enrolled in a 12-month digital program (RestoreHealth) with online/app access and coaching.
• Evaluated recruitment, enrollment, engagement, weight change, and predictors of weight change over six months, including subgroup analysis for anti-obesity medication use.

Main Results:

• 5056 patients enrolled; 89.2% completed registration.
• At six months, mean weight loss was -5.7 lbs (-2.5%); 27.7% lost ≥ 5% body weight.
• Patients using anti-obesity medications achieved greater weight loss (-12.5 lbs, -5.5%). Higher engagement, older age, and greater enrollment weight predicted more weight loss.

Conclusions:

• Rapid enrollment of a large, diverse patient group in the PROPS 2.0 program.
• Significant weight loss observed at six months, particularly with anti-obesity medication use.
• The digital weight management program demonstrates potential for scalability and broader implementation.