Background

Obesity rehabilitation is intended to improve the quality of life and health of patients in the long term and to prevent secondary diseases. Often, the positive health aspects of rehabilitation cannot be secured in the long term. Here, digital forms can support the therapy.

Objective 

The study investigates the effectiveness of digital obesity interval rehabilitation with regard to body weight, health-related quality of life, physical activity and eating behavior. Psychological factors such as intention, self-efficacy, enjoyment of exercise, motivation, and habitual behaviors related to physical activity will also be analyzed.

The study is being conducted by Caspar Health in collaboration with DRV Knappschaft-Bahn-See, the Institute for Sport and Sport Science (IfSS) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Methods 

This is a controlled, non-randomized study involving four DRV Knappschaft-Bahn-See rehabilitation facilities and two control group rehabilitation facilities.

There are three clinic stays during the obesity interval rehabilitation: the first clinic stay is three weeks, the second and third are one week each. The time between each stay is six months. During the home training phase, the intervention group is supervised by therapists using the Caspar software (content from exercise and nutrition therapy), while the control group receives no digital therapeutic support. 

Data will be collected at three measurement points: during the first clinic stay (t0), six months later (t1), and twelve months later (t2).

Data collection will ask about body weight/BMI, subjective health (SF-12), physical activity (GPAQ), eating behaviors (e.g., DEBQ), self-efficacy to exercise (SSA), enjoyment of exercise (PACES), and habitual behaviors (SRBAI). Additional interviews will provide information on the practicality, usability, and acceptability of digital obesity rehabilitation.

Results

Patient recruitment has been ongoing since June 2021 and is expected to be completed in May 2023. The outcome report is expected in June 2023.

Literature: Registered in the german clinical trials register - DRKS-ID of the study: DRKS00024836