ArticleObesity science & practice2019
Enhancing group-based internet obesity treatment: A pilot RCT comparing video and text-based chat.
Article in Obesity science & practice, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Identifying Social Media-Based Interactions That Help Adults to Adhere to Weight Loss Goals: A Systematic Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of influences on engagement with remote health interventions targeting weight management for individuals living with excess weight.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of the Aspects of Digital Interventions That Successfully Support Weight Loss: Systematic Review With Component Network Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Individual Real-Time Video Counseling on Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol, Physical Activity, and Obesity Health Risks: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Pooled it
- An Online Weight Loss Intervention for People With Obesity and Poorly Controlled Asthma.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2022Trial
- Challenges of conducting a remote behavioral weight loss study: Lessons learned and a practical guide.Contemporary clinical trials · 2021Trial
- Effect of tailoring on weight loss among young adults receiving digital interventions: an 18 month randomized controlled trial.Translational behavioral medicine · 2021Trial
- Twenty-Four Month Outcomes From a Real-World Telehealth Obesity Treatment Clinic Using Obesity Medications.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Observational
- Using Group Chats to Drive Behavior Change in Digital Health Interventions: Scoping Review and Realist Synthesis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Addressing rural health disparities by optimizing "high-touch" intervention components in digital obesity treatment: The iREACH Rural study.Contemporary clinical trials · 2024Article
- Expert Opinion on the Utility of Telemedicine in Obesity Care: Recommendations on a Hybrid Multidisciplinary Integrated Care Follow-Up Algorithm.Current obesity reports · 2024Review
- Review
- Engaging primary care patients with existing online tools for weight loss: A pilot trial.Obesity science & practice · 2022Article
- A Pilot Study to Examine the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Virtual Adaptation of an In-Person Adolescent Diabetes Prevention Program.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Examining weekly facilitated group sessions and counselor-crafted self-monitoring feedback on treatment outcome in digital weight control: A pilot factorial study.Obesity science & practice · 2022Article
- Impact of transition from face-to-face to telehealth on behavioral obesity treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2022Article
- Can you see me? Participant experience of accessing a weight management programme via group videoconference to overcome barriers to engagement.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2021Article
- A Review of Telemedicine Interventions for Weight Loss.Current cardiovascular risk reports · 2021Review
- Enhancing group-based internet obesity treatment: A pilot RCT comparing video and text-based chat.Obesity science & practice · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveInternet delivery of behavioural weight control interventions offers potential for broad geographic reach and accessibility, but weight losses online fall short of those produced with the same programme delivered in-person. This pilot study examined feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a video-based platform for delivering weekly chat as part of a 6-month, 24-session online group behavioural weight control programme compared with the established text-based format, which has produced the best online weight losses to date.
methodWomen with obesity (N = 32) were randomized to either (a) weekly video group chat sessions and provided with a cellular-enabled scale (Video) or (b) Text-based weekly chat sessions and given a digital scale (Text) and followed for 6 months to determine weight loss and treatment engagement.
resultsWomen randomized to the ideo condition lost more weight than those in the Text condition (-5.0 ± 6.0% vs. -3.0 ± 4.1%, respectively) at 6 months, although the difference was not statistically significant. However, women in the Video condition had significantly greater treatment engagement, with greater self-monitoring and website utilization than those in the Text condition.
conclusionsVideoconference delivery of group-based online weight control accompanied by a cellular-connected scale may promote greater treatment engagement and weight loss than text-based chat. A larger, adequately powered study is warranted to determine which elements drive these enhanced treatment outcomes.
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