The efficacy of a telemedicine

Clinically significant weight loss is defined as a ≥5% of initial body weight loss within a 6-month period. The purpose of this study was to assess body weight change from a 12-week telehealth-based weight loss program that integrated health coaching via video conferencing. A total of 25 obese participants (12 males, 13 females) were recruited for this fully online 12-week weight loss program. Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or control group (n？=？13 intervention, body mass index (BMI)？=？34.7？±？4.5？kg/m2; n？=？12 control, BMI？=？34.4？±？4.43？kg/m2). All participants were given access to a secure platform for data tracking and video conferencing with the research team. The intervention group met with the medical doctor once per month and with a registered dietitian, weekly. Control participants met with the research team at baseline and at 12 weeks. Independent samples t-tests and Chi-square tests were used via SPSS version 24 with significance set to p？<？0.05. There was a significant difference between the intervention and control groups for body weight loss (7.3？±？5.2 versus 1.2？±？3.9？kg, respectively, p？<？0.05) as well as for percent body weight loss (7.16？±？4.4 versus 1.5？±？4.1%, respectively, p？<？0.05). Clinically significant weight loss was achieved in 9 out of 13 (69.2%) in the intervention group versus 1 out of 12 (8%) in the control group. Mobile phone-based health coaching may promote weight loss. Weekly video conferencing with education may be an applicable tool for inducing significant body weight loss in obese individuals