Evaluation of the Pragmatic Implementation of a Digital Health Intervention Promoting Healthy Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Gestational Weight Gain for Women Entering Pregnancy at a High Body Mass Index

• Published in: Nutrients 2023-01, Vol.15 (3), p.588
• Main Authors: Wilkinson, Shelley A, Fjeldsoe, Brianna, Willcox, Jane C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Body mass; Body Mass Index; Body size; Body weight gain; Clinical trials; COVID-19; Diet; Diet, Healthy; Dietitians; digital; E-health; Education; Evaluation; Exercise; Female; Fruits; Gestational Weight Gain; Health aspects; Health behavior; Health promotion; Hospitals; Humans; implementation; Intervention; Methods; Nutrition; Nutrition research; Obesity; Overweight; Physical activity; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - prevention & control; Pregnant women; Prenatal care; Social networks; Study and teaching; Technology application; Text messaging; Websites; weight; Womens health
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu15030588

txt4two is a multi-modality intervention promoting healthy pregnancy nutrition, physical activity (PA), and gestational weight gain (GWG), which had been previously evaluated in a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT). This study aimed to evaluate a pragmatic implementation of an adapted version of txt4two in a public tertiary hospital. Using a consecutive cohort design, txt4two was delivered to women with a pre-pregnancy BMI > 25 kg/m , between 10 + 0 to 17 + 6 weeks. Control and intervention cohorts (n = 150) were planned, with surveys and weight measures at baseline and 36 weeks. The txt4two cohort received a dietetic goal-setting appointment and program (SMS, website, and videos). The navigation of disparate hospital systems and the COVID-19 pandemic saw adaptation and adoption take two years. The intervention cohort (n = 35; 43% full data) demonstrated significant differences (mean (SD)), compared to the control cohort (n = 97; 45% full data) in vegetable intake (+0.9 (1.2) versus +0.1 (0.7), = 0.03), fiber-diet quality index (+0.6 (0.8) versus 0.1 (0.5), = 0.012), and total diet quality index (+0.7 (1.1) versus +0.2 (±0.6), = 0.008), but not for PA or GWG. Most (85.7%) intervention participants found txt4two extremely or moderately useful, and 92.9% would recommend it. Embedding the program in a non-RCT context raised implementation challenges. Understanding the facilitators and barriers to adaptation and adoption will strengthen the evidence for the refinement of implementation plans.