Randomized controlled trial for dietary food measurement on mobile devices

ISRCTN	ISRCTN14153741
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN14153741
Secondary identifying numbers	101-3876B

Submission date: 05/03/2015
Registration date: 08/04/2015
Last edited: 07/04/2015

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Mobile phone applications (apps) are considered to have great potential in helping to tackle the global health challenge of obesity. Promoting a healthy diet to the general population is getting attention. Many such mobile phone apps include the participant being able to report on what they have eaten (or not eaten) in a dietary log or planner. However, they usually only ask for the type of food and the quantity that is eaten. To make such a mobile phone app more useful, a user-friendly and effective way of measuring the amount of food eaten wherever the participant happens to be is needed. In this study, we developed a promising dietary food measurement on mobile devices and two visual-based interactive app alternatives were designed to appeal to young adults. This study compares these two apps in terms of how easy they are to use.

Who can participate?
Collegiate students aged at least 18 and attending Chang Gung University (Taiwan)

What does the study involve?
The visual-based interactive apps being tested are the IPI (interactive photo interface) and SBI (sketching-based interface). IPI uses pre-determined images of a specific food which the users can flick though and select the one most representative of the amount eaten. SBI compares the amount of food to a readily available comparator (e.g., a credit card) and the users can scribble to shade in the appropriate area. We then look at how well the apps perform in terms of accuracy rate, response time, and subjective assessment. Participants taking part in the study are randomly assigned to one of three groups. Those in group 1 use the IPI app. Those in group 2 use the SBI app. Those participants in group 3 are in the control group and are given traditional life-sized photos (TLP) of food portions. 18 food items in which the portion of each food are used and the portion of each of these foods is also randomly selected.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Not provided at time of registration.

Where is the study run from?
Food Interaction Design Lab, Department of Industrial Design, College of Management, Chang Gung University (Taiwan)

When is study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
November 2012 to February 2014

Who is funding the study?
1. Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan (Taiwan)
2. Research Fund of Chang Gung University (Taiwan)
3. Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan)

Who is the main contact?
Dr. Sherry Yueh-Hsia Chiu
sherrychiu@mail.cgu.edu.tw

Contact information

Dr Sherry Yueh-Hsia Chiu
Scientific

No. 259
Wen-Hwa 1st Road
Kwei-Shan
Tao-Yuan
333
Taiwan

ORCID ID	0000-0002-7207-7088
Phone	+886-3-2118800 ext 5250
Email	sherrychiu@mail.cgu.edu.tw

Study information

Study design	Randomized controlled trial
Primary study design	Interventional
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)	School
Study type	Other
Scientific title	Design and usability evaluation of user-centered and visual-based aids for dietary food measurement on mobile devices in a randomized controlled trial
Study objectives	To design a promising dietary food measurement on mobile devices, and two interactive aids for apps were designed. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate user usability.
Ethics approval(s)	Ethics Committee of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 14/01/2013, ref: 101-3876B.
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Diet
Intervention	Overall, 36, 38, and 34 subjects were randomly assigned to the interactive photo interface (IPI), sketching-based interface (SBI), and traditional life-size photo (TLP) groups, respectively.
Intervention type	Behavioural
Primary outcome measure	Two types of outcomes were conducted to evaluate the usability of mobile devices for dietary measurement, and these outcomes included the correct proportion of dietary food measurement. 1. Accuracy was one type of outcome and was defined as the number of correct counts divided by overall counts 2. Absolute weight difference in grams compared with the standard.
Secondary outcome measures	1. The duration of the response time consumed in seconds for each item was automatically recorded by the apps. 2. Subjective evaluation for preference was determined by conducting food portion measurements and operating the interface.
Overall study start date	01/11/2012
Completion date	07/02/2014

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Healthy volunteer
Age group	Adult
Lower age limit	18 Years
Sex	Both
Target number of participants	120
Key inclusion criteria	Collegiate students aged 18 or over of Chang Gung University.
Key exclusion criteria	N/A
Date of first enrolment	14/01/2013
Date of final enrolment	31/08/2013

Locations

Countries of recruitment

Taiwan

Study participating centre

College of Management

Chang Gung University
No. 259
Wen-Hwa 1st Road
Kwei-Shan
Tao-Yuan
333
Taiwan

Sponsor information

Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan and Chang Gung University
University/education

No. 259
Wen-Hwa 1st Road
333 Kwei-Shan
Tao-Yuan
333
Taiwan

Phone	+886-3-2118800 ext 5250
Email	sherrychiu@mail.cgu.edu.tw
Website	http://www.cgu.edu.tw/bin/home.php
"ROR"	https://ror.org/009knm296

Funders

Funder type

University/education

Chang Gung University
Private sector organisation / Universities (academic only)

Alternative name(s): 长庚大学, CGU
Location: Taiwan

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	Yes
IPD sharing plan summary	Available on request
Publication and dissemination plan
IPD sharing plan