Rural Family Satisfaction With Telehealth Delivery of an Intervention for Pediatric Obesity and Associated Family Characteristics.

Objective: To describe satisfaction with the telehealth aspect of a pediatric obesity intervention among families from multiple rural communities and assess differences in satisfaction based on sociodemographic factors. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from a pilot randomized controlled trial of a 6-month intensive lifestyle intervention (iAmHealthy) delivered through telehealth to children 6-11 years old with BMI ≥85th%ile and their parents from rural communities. Parents completed a sociodemographic survey and a validated survey to assess satisfaction with the telehealth intervention across four domains (technical functioning, comfort of patient and provider with technology and perceived privacy, timely and geographic access to care, and global satisfaction) on a 5-point Likert scale. Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric rank test were used to compare mean satisfaction scores based on parent sociodemographics. Results: Forty-two out of 52 parents (67% White, 29% Black, 5% multiracial, and 50% with household income <$40,000) completed the survey. Mean satisfaction scores ranged from 4.16 to 4.54 (standard deviation 0.44-0.61). Parents without a college degree reported higher satisfaction across all domains compared with parents with a college degree, including global satisfaction (mean 4.64 vs. 4.31, p = 0.03). Parents reporting a household income <$40,000 (mean 4.70) reported higher scores in the comfort with technology and perceived privacy domain compared with parents with higher incomes (mean 4.30-4.45, p = 0.04). Discussion: Parents from rural communities, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, were highly satisfied with the iAmHealthy telehealth intervention. These findings can be used to inform future telehealth interventions among larger more diverse populations. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04142034.

Standardization of a Continuous Ramp Ergometer Protocol for Clinical Exercise Testing in Children.

Developing a standardized protocol for pediatric exercise laboratories is challenging. Our objective was to report normal pediatric values for a continuous non-steady state cycle ergometer ramp protocol to achieve 8-10 min of exercise based on sex and weight. One hundred seventeen patients (117) [mean age 13 ± 2.8 years, range 7-18 years (51% male)] referred for chest pain with normal cardiac evaluation underwent cardiopulmonary testing on a cycle ergometer. Patients entered one of the four continuous ramp protocols (10, 15, 20, and 25 W/min ramp) to achieve an expected peak workload of 3 W/kg at an increase of 0.3 to 0.35 W/kg/min. Exercise test outcomes measured included duration, peak heart rate, work, respiratory exchange ratio, peak oxygen consumption, peak blood pressure, and ventilatory anaerobic threshold. An exercise duration of 8-10 min was achieved in a majority of the study population; however, interactions with age (older, longer duration) and sex (males, longer duration) were present. Using our algorithm (0.3-0.35 W/kg × weight), we demonstrated four non-steady state ramp bike ergometer protocols (10, 15, 20, and 25 W/min) that can be applied to males and females of different ages and weights to achieve an exercise duration of 8-10 min.

Feasibility of Using a Commercial Fitness Tracker as an Adjunct to Family-Based Weight Management Treatment: Pilot Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Fitness trackers can engage users through automated self-monitoring of physical activity. Studies evaluating the utility of fitness trackers are limited among adolescents, who are often difficult to engage in weight management treatment and are heavy technology users. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a pilot randomized trial to describe the impact of providing adolescents and caregivers with fitness trackers as an adjunct to treatment in a tertiary care weight management clinic on adolescent fitness tracker satisfaction, fitness tracker utilization patterns, and physical activity levels. METHODS: Adolescents were randomized to 1 of 2 groups (adolescent or dyad) at their initial weight management clinic visit. Adolescents received a fitness tracker and counseling around activity data in addition to standard treatment. A caregiver of adolescents in the dyad group also received a fitness tracker. Satisfaction with the fitness tracker, fitness tracker utilization patterns, and physical activity patterns were evaluated over 3 months. RESULTS: A total of 88 adolescents were enrolled, with 69% (61/88) being female, 36% (32/88) black, 23% (20/88) Hispanic, and 63% (55/88) with severe obesity. Most adolescents reported that the fitness tracker was helping them meet their healthy lifestyle goals (69%) and be more motivated to achieve a healthy weight (66%). Despite this, 68% discontinued use of the fitness tracker by the end of the study. There were no significant differences between the adolescent and the dyad group in outcomes, but adolescents in the dyad group were 12.2 times more likely to discontinue using their fitness tracker if their caregiver also discontinued use of their fitness tracker (95% CI 2.4-61.6). Compared with adolescents who discontinued use of the fitness tracker during the study, adolescents who continued to use the fitness tracker recorded a higher number of daily steps in months 2 and 3 of the study (mean 5760 vs 4148 in month 2, P=.005, and mean 5942 vs 3487 in month 3, P=.002). CONCLUSIONS: Despite high levels of satisfaction with the fitness trackers, fitness tracker discontinuation rates were high, especially among adolescents whose caregivers also discontinued use of their fitness tracker. More studies are needed to determine how to sustain the use of fitness trackers among adolescents with obesity and engage caregivers in adolescent weight management interventions.