Using real-world evidence to evaluate the long-term health and economic impact of the digital tool Grohealth W8Buddy supporting access to specialist weight management services: a protocol for a cohort observational study

TL;DR

This study evaluates a digital weight management tool to improve access and outcomes compared to traditional NHS services.

Contribution

The study provides real-world evidence on the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a digital weight management platform.

Findings

The study will compare health outcomes like weight loss and treatment time between digital and standard NHS pathways.

It will assess patient and healthcare professional experiences with the digital tool.

Results will inform the scalability and sustainability of digital weight management services.

Abstract

Obesity affects over a quarter of the UK population and can lead to serious health issues. NHS Specialist Weight Management Services (WMS) offer treatments including lifestyle advice, psychological support and medications, but access and availability vary by region. Although around 4 million people could be eligible for NHS Specialist WMS annually, capacity is limited to 35 000, severely limiting overall access for those who need it. While digital technology has started to be used in WMS, more evidence is needed to confirm its long-term effectiveness, acceptability and cost-effectiveness. This study explores the use of Gro Health W8Buddy, a digital platform and app providing remote Specialist WMS. It aims to determine the long-term health benefits of remote WMS pathway Gro Health W8Buddy compared with standard NHS WMS delivered in hospitals, and to improve patients access to services.

The study is a real-world evaluation with observational data collection. We will recruit 450 study participants from four NHS specialist WMS who will choose either standard NHS WMS or the digital pathway Gro Health W8Buddy. Participants are being given the option to choose their pathway to generate real-world evidence. We will measure and analyse health outcomes including weight loss, time taken to be treated and cost-effectiveness, at 18 months and follow up at 24 months for later analysis (outside of this core funding). We will gather experiential data from patients and healthcare professionals through surveys, observation and interviews.

Ethical approval has been obtained from NHS Health Research Authority (HRA) and Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW) (Supplementary Figure 3) (REC reference: 25/EM/0147). Our findings will be disseminated through academic publications, conference presentations and stakeholder engagement.

ISRCTN89168871; Pre-results.

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