Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Apr 10;18(4):e0282502.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282502. eCollection 2023.

Emirates Heart Health Project (EHHP): A protocol for a stepped-wedge family-cluster randomized-controlled trial of a health-coach guided diet and exercise intervention to reduce weight and cardiovascular risk in overweight and obese UAE nationals

Jeffrey K King  1   2 , Mohamud Sheek-Hussein  3   4 , Nico J D Nagelkerke  3 , Alexander Kieu  1   5 , Saif Al-Shamsi  6 , Javaid Nauman  3 , Nicholas Hoque  5   7   8 , Romona D Govender  1 , Iffat ElBarazi  3 , Kristoffer Crawford  5
Affiliations

Emirates Heart Health Project (EHHP): A protocol for a stepped-wedge family-cluster randomized-controlled trial of a health-coach guided diet and exercise intervention to reduce weight and cardiovascular risk in overweight and obese UAE nationals

Jeffrey K King et al. PLoS One. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most common cause of death both globally and in the United Arab Emirates. Despite public health measures and health education, the rates of death from CVD remain stable. Barriers previously identified to lifestyle changes include cultural reasons, boredom, and lack of family support. The Emirates Heart Health Project (EHHP) seeks to support healthy lifestyle changes through a family-based intervention using a health coach and fitness tracker.

Methods and analysis: The EHHP is a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial with each cluster comprised of members of an extended family. Eligible participants will be ≥ 18 years of age, with BMI ≥ 25, have Emirati citizenship and be able to give informed consent for study participation. The cluster will have 16 weekly teaching sessions in the participants' family home by a health coach who will review individual weight, diet and exercise (monitored by a wearable fitness tracker). The clusters will have pre-intervention assessments of their weight and CVD risk profile and enter the intervention in randomized order. Each cluster will have a post-intervention assessment of the same measures. The primary outcome is weight reduction from baseline. Secondary outcomes will include change in CVD risk factors such as systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, waist circumference, and BMI. A mixed linear model will be used for analysis, where the parameters measured at the end of each 16-week episode will be the outcome values. These will be analyzed such that baseline values (measured just prior to the start of an episode) will be fixed covariables. Random effects are the family units. This trial has been registered with the NIH at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04688684) and is being reported using the SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) and TIDieR (Template for intervention description and replication) framework.

Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04688684.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. SPIRIT schedule of stepped intervention.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Graphical timeline of stepped intervention.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Burgoine T, Sarkar C, Webster CJ, Monsivais P. Examining the interaction of fast-food outlet exposure and income on diet and obesity: evidence from 51,361 UK Biobank participants. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2018;15:71. Available from: 10.1186/s12966-018-0699-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cobb LK, Appel LJ, Franco M, Jones-Smith JC, Nur A, Anderson CAM. The relationship of the local food environment with obesity: A systematic review of methods, study quality, and results. Obesity. 2015;23(7):1331–1344. doi: 10.1002/oby.21118 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stark JH, Neckerman K, Lovasi GS, Konty K, Quinn J, Arno P, et al.. Neighbourhood food environments and body mass index among New York City adults. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2013;67:736–742. Available from: 10.1136/jech-2013-202354 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Micha R, Penalvo JK, Cudhea F, Imamura F, Rehm CD, Mazzaffarian D. Association between dietary risk factors and mortality from heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes in the United States. JAMA. 2017;317:912–24. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Afshin A, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, et al.. The impact of dietary habits and metabolic risk factors on cardiovascular and diabetes mortality in countries of the Middle East and North Africa in 2010: a comparative risk assessment analysis. BMJ Open. 2015;5:e006385. Available from: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006385 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data