Telephone counseling intervention improves dietary habits and metabolic parameters of patients with the metabolic syndrome: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a telephone-delivered intervention in improving lifestyle habits and metabolic parameters in metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) patients compared to a similar face-to-face or a usual care intervention. Methods: Eighty-seven MetSyn patients recruited from the outpatient clinic of a major public hospital were randomly assigned to one of the three intervention groups: "usual care", "telephone" or "face-to-face". At the beginning of the study all patients were provided with a hypocaloric Mediterranean-type diet. Then, patients in the telephone group received 7 dietary counseling calls, patients in the face-to-face group participated in 7 one-to-one dietary counseling sessions, and patients in the usual care group received no other contact, until the end of the study, 6 months later. All patients underwent full medical and nutritional evaluation at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Results: At the end of the intervention, 42% of the participants no longer had the MetSyn; resolution rates differed significantly between the groups (p = 0.024), with those in the face-to-face and telephone group exhibiting similar rates (52 and 54%, respectively, vs. 21% in the usual care group). Between-group analysis revealed that the face-to-face group achieved the greatest improvement in metabolic parameters, while the telephone group had the greatest improvement in dietary adherence compared to the usual care group. Conclusions: Telephone counseling may be an effective way for implementing behavioral counseling aiming at improving lifestyle habits to MetSyn patients.