A Rubric to Assess the Design and Intervention Quality of Randomized Controlled Trials in Health and Wellness Coaching

Abstract

Objective: To collect health and wellness coaching (HWC) literature related to treatment of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) for systematic assessment using a novel rubric. Data Source: Pubmed, CINAHL, and PsychInfo Study Inclusion and Exclusion: Given 282 articles retrieved, only randomized and controlled trials meeting a HWC criteria-based definition were included; studies with intervention <4 months or <4 sessions were excluded. Data Extraction: Rubric assessment required details of two theoretical frameworks (i.e., study design and HWC intervention design) be extracted from each included paper. Data Synthesis: Data were derived from a 28-item rubric querying items such as sampling characteristics, statistical methods, coach characteristics, HWC strategy, and intervention fidelity. Results: 29 articles were reviewed. Inter-rater rubric scoring yielded high intraclass correlation (r =.85). Rubric assessment of HWC literature resulted in moderate scores (56.7%), with study design scoring higher than intervention design; within intervention design, T2D studies scored higher than obesity. Conclusions: A novel research design rubric is presented and successfully applied to assess HWC research related to treatment of obesity and T2D. Most studies reported beneficial clinical findings; however, rubric results revealed moderate scores for study and intervention design. Implications for future HWC research are discussed.