Poster Presentation Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Conference 2023

Outcomes of in-person vs online lifestyle and rapid weight loss programs in a tertiary referral service (#232)

Sunny Cheung 1 2 , Samantha L Hocking 1 2 3 , Tania P Markovic 1 2 3 , Janet L Franklin 1 2 3 4
  1. Metabolism and Obesity Services Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Boden Initiative, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. Eating Disorders and Nutrition research group, Translational Health Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Background

The Metabolism & Obesity Service (MOS) provides two outpatient group programs for obesity management, the ‘Rapid Program’ that uses a very low energy meal replacement diet and the ‘Bodylines’ lifestyle program. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the transition of these programs from in-person group sessions to online group videoconferences.. Previous literature has suggested comparable weight loss outcomes with technology-based approaches but there is limited research in the group setting.

Aims

To compare weight outcomes and engagement of the MOS online group-based weight management programs with their in-person equivalent programs.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of clinical data from the 2017-2018 (in-person) and 2021-2022 (online) cohorts attending the MOS group programs was performed. The primary outcomes were weight change at 3, 6 and 12 months. The secondary outcomes were engagement-related measures at these timepoints.

Results

At three months, the online cohort had a significantly higher average weight loss than the in-person cohort (-4.8% vs. -3.3%, P = .032) with older age being predictive of greater weight loss. At six and 12 months, the two cohorts did not differ significantly in weight loss outcomes. The online and in-person cohorts engaged similarly among those who started with the Rapid program, with inconclusive results from those who started with the Bodylines program. Among the Bodylines-first participants, the online cohort had a lower percentage program completion (38.6 ± 37.9% vs. 55.1± 40.6%, P < .001) but a higher number of sessions attended (5.1 ± 5.3 vs. 3.3 ± 2.4, P = .007) compared with the in-person cohort, likely due to changes to the Bodylines program structure. The cohorts did not differ significantly in number of months attending MOS.

Conclusions

Our findings demonstrate the on-line MOS programs may be as effective as the in-person programs, providing an opportunity to improve service reach to more underserved communities.