N/A Completed N=66 Randomized Treatment

Group Telehealth Weight Management Visits for Adolescents With Obesity

Obesity, Childhood

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03508622 ↗

Enrolled (actual)

Serious AEs

0.0%

Results posted

Sep 2025

Primary outcomePrimary: Mean Change From Baseline to 6 Months in Body Mass Index — 1.07; 0.17 kilograms by the square of their height

Summary

Summary Description The goal of this intervention study is to test how well does a weight management curriculum work in virtual group-based medical visits (telehealth) for the treatment of adolescents with obesity. The main questions it aims to answer are: * How well does providing group-based medical care for obesity using telehealth work? * How doable is it to provide virtual group-based health education visits with adolescent patients? * Are the group-based health education visits similar, or better than the traditional in-person clinic visits? Participants will be asked to: * Complete surveys, do bloodwork, and physical measurements like blood pressure, height and weight before the study activities start and after completing the study activities * Participate in study activities such as attending 12 virtual sessions lasting 60 minutes each, every other week, over a period of 6 months * Join group learning and discussions of topics like nutrition, barriers to physical activity, and mental health with various facilitators like a medical doctor, dietitian, psychologist, and physical therapist * Take part of in brief individual coaching sessions over email or over the phone Researchers will compare the virtual group-based medical visits to the traditional in-person weight management clinic visits (EMPOWER Weight Management Clinic) to see if the study can be another option in the treatment of adolescents with obesity.

Outcome Measures

Outcome	Result	p-value
PRIMARY Mean Change From Baseline to 6 Months in Body Mass Index	1.07; 0.17	—
PRIMARY Mean Change From Baseline to 6 Months in Percentage of 95th Percentile Body Mass Index	1.62; -2.52	—
PRIMARY Mean Change From Baseline to 6 Months in Glycosylated Hemoglobin	-0.27; -.16	—
PRIMARY Mean Change From Baseline to 6 Months in Alanine Aminotransferase	18.8; 3.00	—
PRIMARY Mean Change in Triglycerides From Baseline to 6 Months	-7.2; -44.71	—
PRIMARY Mean Change in Diastolic Blood Pressure From Baseline to 6 Months	-2.47; -2.88	—
PRIMARY Mean Change in Systolic Blood Pressure From Baseline to 6 Months	4.1; -4.82	—
SECONDARY Change in Quality of Life From Baseline to 6 Months Using Quality of Life Questionnaire #1	0.7; 0; 0.4; 0.7; 0; 0.9	—
SECONDARY Change in Quality of Life From Baseline to 6 Months Using the Quality of Life 2 (KINDL) Questionnaire.	0.06; -0.12; -0.12; -0.88; -.35; -0.59	—
SECONDARY Satisfaction With Care at 6 Months Using Satisfaction Telehealth Questionnaire	13; 4; 0; 10; 7; 0	—
SECONDARY Attendance/Retention From Baseline to 6 Months	6.9; 5.5	—

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Class 2 or 3 obesity OR
Class 1 obesity plus a significant comorbidity, such as impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), or obstructive sleep apnea.

Exclusion Criteria

Significant intellectual or neurodevelopmental disability
Inability to stand on a scale independently without assistance or use of an assistive device
Non-English speaking

Given the shared nature of group appointments, participants should be at approximately the same developmental stage as their peers. Discussion topics may include stigma, body image, family dynamics, and school issues, and therefore a wide variance in age range or cognitive status could potentially diminish the effectiveness of the group sessions. Non-English speaking youth will be excluded due to limitations in translation services for such a small pilot project. English speaking adolescents with non-English speaking parents will be included.

View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03508622). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication. Informational only — not medical advice.