The purpose of the DATE study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability and a preliminary evaluation of the efficacy of a dyadic health behaviour change intervention to improve healthy eating, physical activity, and dyadic coping among older obese couples. This novel intervention will use a dyadic adaptation of common health behaviour change strategies and will promote a dyadic coping approach to health behaviour change that emphasize partners' interdependence and shared responsibility for the creation of a home environment conducive to a healthy lifestyle. For this project 35 obese older adults cohabiting dyads will be randomized to either the couples-based dyadic health behaviour change intervention or a couples-based nutrition counselling control condition.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
70
The dyadic behaviour change intervention adopts a dyadic coping perspective wherein appraisal of shared responsibility, agreement on tasks, and collaboration are fostered throughout the intervention. The intervention will target four behaviour goals: reducing overall caloric intake, substituting empty calorie foods with healthier alternatives, reducing sedentary behaviour, and increasing physical activity. The specific behavioural change strategies will include motivational interviewing, self-monitoring, goal setting, stimulus control, problem solving, and relapse prevention. Each session will also include a short education component on healthy eating to improve participants' adherence to the updated Canada's Food Guide. Participants will have access to web-based exercise training sessions. Intervention sessions will be delivered online.
The couples-based education nutrition intervention will provide extensive information on healthy eating. However, it will not include any behavioural change principles. Topics will be based on Dietitians of Canada's Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition (PEN) discussions in the database that focus on healthy eating for older adults. The topics covered will include increasing fruits and vegetables, hidden (empty) calories, how to read food labels, portion control, reducing salt and saturated fat, plant-based proteins, and eating for healthy bones. Participants in this group will also be told to increase their levels of physical activity to 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, as per the Canadian Guidelines. Participants will have access to web-based exercise training sessions. However, physical activity will not be discussed explicitly during the intervention. Intervention sessions will be delivered online.
Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Change in Healthy Eating Index
Canadian adaptation of the Healthy Eating Index based on a 3-day food diary
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity (minutes per day)
Objective physical activity assessed using accelerometry for 7 consecutive days.
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in self-reported physical Activity
Self-reported physical activity assessed using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (total score ranges from 0 to 793, with higher scores indicating greater physical activity).
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in weight (kg)
Body weight assessed using a digital scale
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in waist circumference (cm)
Waist circumference assessed using a measuring tape anchored at the top of the hip bone.
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in Relationship Satisfaction
Relationship satisfaction assessed using the Couples Satisfaction Index-4 (total score ranges from 0-21, with higher scores indicating greater relationship satisfaction).
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in Dyadic Coping
Dyadic coping assessed using the Common Dyadic Coping subscale of the Dyadic Coping Inventory (total score ranges from 0-30, with higher scores indicating common more dyadic coping).
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in Spousal Social Support for Diet
Diet social support assessed using the spousal version of the Social Support for Diet (total score ranges from 0 to 50 with higher scores indicating greater social support for diet).
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in Spousal Social Support for Exercise
Spousal social support for exercise assessed using the spousal version of the Social Support for Exercise scale (total score ranges from 0 to 60 with higher scores indicating greater social support for exercise).
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in Communal Coping
Communal coping assessed using a home-made communal coping scale (total score range from 6-60 with higher score indicating greater communal coping).
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
Change in Autonomy Support
Autonomy support assessed using the spousal version for the Important Other Climate Questionnaire (total scores 6-42, with higher scores indicating more autonomy support).
Time frame: Baseline, 4 months, 7 months, 16 months
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