Diet, Exercise, Self-Monitoring, Technology, and Motivational Interviewing for Weight Loss in Adults

Author

Ashleigh D. Warburton, Valparaiso University

Date of Award

5-11-2022

Degree Type

Evidence-Based Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Heather Strickler

Abstract

Obesity, an epidemic in the United States (US), affected 42.4% of adults as of 2017-2018 (Hales, 2020). Comorbidities associated with obesity, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes (Orringer et al., 2020), are some of the leading causes of death in the US (Kochanek et al., 2020). The purpose of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to answer the following PICOT question: In adult patients aged 19 years or older who are considered overweight or obese as measured by body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 25 kg/m2 (P), how effective is diet and exercise combined with self-monitoring, a phone application, motivational interviewing (MI) and feedback (I) compared to standard care (C) at lowering BMI (O) over a 12-week period (T)? Adult participants (n = 38) were recruited from an underserved clinic in Northwest Indiana. Participants were provided with educational materials and instructions for downloading a free phone application, following a low-fat and low sugar diet, engaging in at least 30 minutes of walking five times weekly, recording meal choices and exercise amounts, and to participate in biweekly MI phone calls over 12 weeks. An independent-samples t-test was calculated comparing the mean difference in weight and BMI pre and post intervention in the intervention group participants who completed the program (n = 19) to the mean difference in pre and post weight and BMI of participants in the comparison group (n = 14). No significant difference was found (t (31) = 1.575, p > .05) (t (31) = .869, p > .05). The mean difference in weight and BMI for the intervention group (M = 3.10; SD = 5.92) (M = .32; SD = 1.12) was not significantly different from the mean difference in weight and BMI for the comparison group (M = .14; SD = 4.40) (M = 0.2; SD = .72). When comparing the final weight of the intervention group to the comparison group combined with the dropout participants (n = 30), there was a statistically significant difference (p = .009). Future research may focus on evaluating the effectiveness of this program at a larger practice site and including in-person MI sessions rather than phone calls only.

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Recommended Citation

Warburton, Ashleigh D., "Diet, Exercise, Self-Monitoring, Technology, and Motivational Interviewing for Weight Loss in Adults" (2022). Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports. 184.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/ebpr/184