(PO05-31-22) Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Dietary Counseling Session Attendance and Self-Monitoring Adherence During a Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention

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Presenting Author(s)

MM

Meredith Mottern, BS
– Research Data Associate, New York University Langone Health, New York, United States

Co-Author(s)

AK

Anna Kharmats
– New York University Langone Health
MC

Margaret Curran, MS
– Project Coordinator, NYU Langone Health, Astoria, New York, United States
LT

Lauren Thomas
– New York University Langone Health
CP

Collin Popp, PhD, MS, RD
– Program Manager, NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, United States
LH

Lu Hu, RN, PhD
– Assistant Professor, NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, United States
SV

Sally Vanegas, PhD
– NYU Langone Health
MB

Michael Bergman
– New York University Langone Health
MP

Mary Lou Pompeii, RD, CDE, CDN
– Research Dietitian, NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, United States
DS

David E. St-Jules, PhD, RD
– University of Nevada, Reno, New York, New York, United States
MS

Mary Ann Sevick, ScD
– NYU Langone Health

Disclosure(s):

Meredith Mottern, BS: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Objectives: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on participants’ intervention counseling session attendance and dietary self-monitoring adherence during the Personal Diet Study, a remote behavioral weight loss intervention for individuals with overweight and obesity with pre-diabetes and moderately controlled type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Participants (n = 200) were instructed to complete four in-person measurement visits, enter their meals daily in a smartphone application, and attend 14 virtual group nutrition counseling sessions over a 6-month intervention period. Due to COVID-19, the assessments were modified to be conducted remotely. We stratified participants into 3 categories: a) all study measures and intervention occurred before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (BEFORE, n=106) b) a portion of the intervention or follow-up measures occurred after the start of the pandemic (MIXED, n=54), and 3) all study measures and intervention took place after the start of the pandemic (AFTER, n=40). Attendance was defined as percentage of counseling intervention sessions attended. Dietary self-monitoring adherence was measured as percentage of days participants entered at least 50% of their daily caloric goal in a smart phone application. Between-group differences were assessed using linear regression models.

Results: Mean [SD] counseling session attendance for the MIXED (72.6%, [28.9%]) and AFTER (73.8% [28.1%]) groups did not differ from the BEFORE group (64.5% [31.8%]), p=0.26 and 0.22 respectively. Adherence to dietary self-monitoring was lower for the MIXED group (25.5% [30.55]) compared to BEFORE group (36.0% [34.8%], p = 0.03), but did not differ between the AFTER (44.5% [35.8%]) and BEFORE groups (p=0.288).

Conclusions: Intervention counseling attendance did not change substantially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The MIXED group had lower self-monitoring adherence rates than the BEFORE grouip, which may be due to disruptions in daily life and habits that occurred in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual weight loss counseling methods are a practical way of circumventing program disruptions without compromising protocol adherence.

Funding Sources: This research was supported by the American Heart Association.