BACKGROUND: A multicenter randomized-trial was designed to test telemedicine treatment for obesity supported by PREDIRCAM2 web-platform (NCT01919372). The telematic intervention included the optional use of a private group in the social media network of Facebook®. Previous studies have shown a positive impact of social media use for other chronic conditions(1). This post-hoc analysis compares the outcomes of participants who joined this private group versus those who did not. METHODS: 183 participants were included in the study, 91 were randomly allocated to receive the telematic intervention and 92 to a control non-telematic intervention group (full results available at: https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/664097).  To join the private group an invitation from the research team was required.  The research team continuously supervised the group. A registered dietitian posted health-related content on a weekly basis and answered to the participant’s posts and comments on a daily basis. RESULTS: Twenty-two participants who joined the social-media private group completed the 12-month follow-up. Satisfaction evaluations revealed 63.6% of these participants considered the social media group was a motivator for behavior change. The most frequently reported reason for not joining the group was not being a previous Facebook® user(65.4%).  A larger proportion of participants who joined the private social media group lost at least 5% body weight at 9-months follow-up compared to those who did not join (80% vs. 46.5%, p=0.0069). At 12-months follow-up this proportion difference remained although it was not statistically significant (63.6% vs. 47.6%, p=0.181). No statistically significant differences between groups were found for HbA1c or lipids.  CONCLUSIONS: Social media guided by health-care professionals can offer networking solutions to be applied in life-style modification therapy for obesity treatment.
References: (1) Merolli M, et al. Patient-Reported Outcomes and Therapeutic Affordances of Social Media. J Med Internet Res. 2015;17(1):e20.

SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN AN OBESITY INTERVENTION- RESULTS FROM THE PREDIRCAM2 STUDY