BACKGROUND
Obesity during pregnancy is a public health problem in our society. Pregnant women with obesity with excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) present a higher probability of presenting maternal and perinatal complications. The use of mobile Apps and a wristband during pregnancy may contribute to promoting healthy lifestyles and, thus, improving maternal and neonatal health.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of a smartband and an App with health counselling together with virtual support from a midwife in relation to GWG and physical activity (PA) in pregnant women with pre-pregnancy obesity and analyse the impact on maternal and perinatal outcomes. In addition, we studied the frequency of use, usability and satisfaction with the mobile Apps used by the women in the intervention group (IG).
METHODS
This parallel 2-arm randomised controlled trial included 150 pregnant women with obesity. The IG received a complex combined digital intervention called Pas & Pes. The intervention was delivered with a smartband (Mi band 2©) linked to the App Mi Fit© plus personalised health information and 24h/day midwife support through another App (Hangouts ©). Women in the control group (CG) only received standard antenatal care.
The Spanish version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF) and the System Usability Scale (SUS) were used. Satisfaction was measured in a 1-5 point Likert scale.
RESULTS
We analysed 120 pregnant women; 30 have been withdrawn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mean GWG in the IG was 7 kg (Q1=4-Q3=11) vs. 9.3 kg (Q1=5.9-Q3=3.3) in the CG, P=.04. At the end of the study, the adjusted mean weight gain per week was 0.500 kg/week (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.41 to 0.58) for the CG and 0.350 kg/week (95%CI: 0.27-0.43) for the IG.Between gestation weeks 35-37, the women in the IG performed greater mean PA than the GC (1,980 metabolic equivalent of tasks [METs]-min/week vs. 1,386 METs/min-week, respectively; P=.01).
No differences were observed between study groups in the incidence of maternal and perinatal outcomes. In the IG, 61% (36) of the pregnant women used the smartband daily, and 74.6% (44) evaluated the usability of the Mi Fit© App as excellent. The grade of satisfaction with the health counselling and virtual midwife support through an App obtained a mean score of 4.8 (SD: 0.6) points.
CONCLUSIONS
The use of a smartband and a health counselling App together with virtual midwife support and standard prenatal controls were effective for obtaining a lower GWG and increasing the performance of PA in pregnant women with obesity.
CLINICALTRIAL
This trial was registered in the Clinical Trial Register of the National Library of Medicine of United States (NCT03706872).
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