Weight management in rural health clinics: The Midwest diet and exercise trial

Obesity prevalence is higher in rural compared to urban residents. Rural health clinics offer a potential venue for delivery of weight management. However, traditional programs require travel to attend on-site meetings which is impractical or inconvenient for rural residents. Clinic staff in most rural settings are unlikely to be trained to provide effective weight management. Remote delivery using group phone conferences (GP) or individual phone calls (IP), by staff associated with rural clinics eliminates the need for travel to attend on-site meetings. The effectiveness of these approaches will be the focus of this trial. Staff at five primary care clinics, serving primarily rural residents, will be trained to deliver GP and IP interventions and an enhanced usual care (EUC), (i.e., individual face-to-face meetings (similar to 45 min) at clinic site, four times across 18 mos.). Two hundred overweight/obese adults (BMI >= 25.0-45.0 kg/m(2), age >= 21 yrs.) will be recruited through each clinic and randomized to GP (n = 80), IP (n = 80), or EUC (n = 40) to compare weight loss (0-6 mos.), weight maintenance (7-18 mos.), and weight change during a 6 mo. no contact follow-up (19-24 mos.) between intervention arms. The GP and IP interventions will be identical in lesson plan content, diet, and physical activity. The only difference between groups will be the delivery format (group vs. individual) and session duration (GP similar to 45 min/session; IP similar to 15 min/session). Primary (body weight) and secondary outcomes (waist circumference, energy/macronutrient intake, physical activity) will be assessed at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 mos. Cost and contingent valuation analyses will also be completed.