(P21-013-24) Longitudinal Support Call Analysis From the MyBestGI App-Supported Dietary Intervention Study: Understanding Determinants of Success

Objectives: Diet is a known modifiable risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), however, little has changed in translating this knowledge into the current standard of care. The MyBestGI parent study is a randomized, controlled trial that is testing two different dietary intervention approaches targeted for CRC prevention versus a control group. The objective of this sub-study is to identify the role of the support calls in the intervention arms and how participants are embracing the behavioral tenants that guided the intervention design.

Methods: Participants in the two intervention groups receive the MyBestGI App, nutrition manual, text messages, and brief, scripted telephone support calls that are designed to build autonomous motivation for dietary change. One intervention group focuses on limiting food groups associated with CRC risk and the other focuses on both food groups to limit and preventative food groups to include. Qualitative analysis is being used to extract conversational content from 20 participants (10 from each of the two diet intervention arms) at three different time points: 8, 24, and 48 weeks. A coding framework was developed to capture diet-related themes in the recorded calls using NVivo software (Lumivero; Denver, CO). Endpoint measures include changes in weight, skin carotenoid concentrations, and preventative food scores at 0, 6, and 12 months.

Results: Thus far, 54 participants have been enrolled. The data shows remarkably low drop-out rates and high user engagement with the MyBestGI App. Preliminary themes from analysis of the initial support calls include building mindfulness towards dietary intakes, accepting the importance of progress not perfection, identifying benefits of the program, accepting flexibility in meeting goals, and recalibrating initial, lofty goals to those more achievable within participant lifestyle constraints.

Conclusions: The analysis of the calls has revealed that participants are making the desired shifts in their thinking as targeted by the behavioral framework and operationalized in the calls, MybestGI App, user manual, and text messages. Further work on longitudinal analysis of these support calls will help identify how participant thinking evolves as they work to maintain the changes made.

Funding Sources: NIH