Digital Photography As an Educational Food Logging Tool in Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Lessons Learned from a Randomized, Crossover Pilot Trial

Overview

Journal Diabetes Educ

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialties Endocrinology
Nursing

Date 2013 Oct 31

PMID 24168836

Citations 5

Authors

Brett J Ehrmann

Robert M Anderson

Gretchen A Piatt

Martha M Funnell

Hira Rashid

Kerby Shedden

Liselle Douyon

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study is to investigate the utility of, and areas of refinement for, digital photography as an educational tool for food logging in obese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

Methods: Thirty-three patients aged 18 to 70 with T2DM, body mass index at least 30 kg/m(2), and A1C 7.5% to 9% were recruited from an endocrinology clinic and randomized to a week of food logging using a digital camera (DC) or paper diary (PD), crossing over for week 2. Patients then viewed a presentation about dietary effects on blood glucose, using patient DC and blood glucose entries. Outcomes of adherence (based on number of weekly entries), changes in mean blood glucose and frequency of blood glucose checks, and patient satisfaction were compared between methods. Patient feedback on the DC intervention and presentation was also analyzed.

Results: Thirty patients completed the study. Adherence was identical across methods. The mean difference in number of entries was not significant between methods. This difference increased and neared statistical significance (favoring DC) among patients who were adherent for at least 1 week (21 entries, with 2 entries per day for 5 of 7 days, n = 25). Mean blood glucose did not significantly decrease in either method. Patient satisfaction was similar between interventions. Feedback indicated concerns over photograph accuracy, forgetting to use the cameras, and embarrassment using them in public.

Conclusion: Although the DC method was comparable to PD in adherence, blood glucose changes, and patient satisfaction in this pilot trial, patient feedback suggested specific areas of refinement to maximize utility of DC-based food logging as an educational tool in T2DM.

Citing Articles

Developing Components of an Integrated mHealth Dietary Intervention for Mexican Immigrant Farmworkers: Feasibility Usability Study of a Food Photography Protocol for Dietary Assessment.

Fernandez I, Yang Y, Chang W, Kautz A, Farchaus Stein K JMIR Form Res. 2024; 8:e54664.

PMID: 39671581 PMC: 11681282. DOI: 10.2196/54664.

Patient-Generated Health Photos and Videos Across Health and Well-being Contexts: Scoping Review.

Ploderer B, Rezaei Aghdam A, Burns K J Med Internet Res. 2022; 24(4):e28867.

PMID: 35412458 PMC: 9044143. DOI: 10.2196/28867.

A Review of Digital Innovations for Diet Monitoring and Precision Nutrition.

Mortazavi B, Gutierrez-Osuna R J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2021; 17(1):217-223.

PMID: 34467803 PMC: 9846399. DOI: 10.1177/19322968211041356.

Digital Food Records in Community-Based Interventions: Mixed-Methods Pilot Study.

Fowler L, Yingling L, Brooks A, Wallen G, Peters-Lawrence M, McClurkin M JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018; 6(7):e160.

PMID: 30021705 PMC: 6068385. DOI: 10.2196/mhealth.9729.

Adherence to self-monitoring healthy lifestyle behaviours through mobile phone-based ecological momentary assessments and photographic food records over 6 months in mostly ethnic minority mothers.

Comulada W, Swendeman D, Koussa M, Mindry D, Medich M, Estrin D Public Health Nutr. 2017; 21(4):679-688.

PMID: 29199630 PMC: 5807077. DOI: 10.1017/S1368980017003044.

References

Kaplan R, Hartwell S, Wilson D, Wallace J . Effects of diet and exercise interventions on control and quality of life in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J Gen Intern Med. 1987; 2(4):220-8. DOI: 10.1007/BF02596443. View

Williamson D, Allen H, Martin P, Alfonso A, Gerald B, Hunt A . Digital photography: a new method for estimating food intake in cafeteria settings. Eat Weight Disord. 2004; 9(1):24-8. DOI: 10.1007/BF03325041. View

Melot C . New designs for clinical trials. Crit Care Med. 2008; 37(1 Suppl):S59-64. DOI: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e318192111a. View

Kendall P, Jansen G . Educating patients with diabetes: comparison of nutrient-based and exchange group methods. J Am Diet Assoc. 1990; 90(2):238-43. View

Hahn J, Gordon D . "Learn, taste, and share": a diabetes nutrition education program developed, marketed, and presented by the community. Diabetes Educ. 1998; 24(2):153-4, 161. DOI: 10.1177/014572179802400204. View

Burke L, Wang J, Sevick M . Self-monitoring in weight loss: a systematic review of the literature. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010; 111(1):92-102. PMC: 3268700. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2010.10.008. View

Beasley J, Riley W, Davis A, Singh J . Evaluation of a PDA-based dietary assessment and intervention program: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Coll Nutr. 2008; 27(2):280-6. DOI: 10.1080/07315724.2008.10719701. View

Williamson D, Allen H, Martin P, Alfonso A, Gerald B, Hunt A . Comparison of digital photography to weighed and visual estimation of portion sizes. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003; 103(9):1139-45. DOI: 10.1016/s0002-8223(03)00974-x. View

Wang D, Kogashiwa M, Ohta S, Kira S . Validity and reliability of a dietary assessment method: the application of a digital camera with a mobile phone card attachment. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2003; 48(6):498-504. DOI: 10.3177/jnsv.48.498. View

10.

Yon B, Johnson R, Harvey-Berino J, Gold B, Howard A . Personal digital assistants are comparable to traditional diaries for dietary self-monitoring during a weight loss program. J Behav Med. 2007; 30(2):165-75. DOI: 10.1007/s10865-006-9092-1. View

11.

Shay L, Seibert D, Watts D, Sbrocco T, Pagliara C . Adherence and weight loss outcomes associated with food-exercise diary preference in a military weight management program. Eat Behav. 2009; 10(4):220-7. PMC: 3936599. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2009.07.004. View

12.

Or C, Karsh B . A systematic review of patient acceptance of consumer health information technology. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2009; 16(4):550-60. PMC: 2705259. DOI: 10.1197/jamia.M2888. View

13.

Senn S . Cross-over trials in Statistics in Medicine: the first '25' years. Stat Med. 2006; 25(20):3430-42. DOI: 10.1002/sim.2706. View

14.

Schwartz M, Chambliss H, Brownell K, Blair S, Billington C . Weight bias among health professionals specializing in obesity. Obes Res. 2003; 11(9):1033-9. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2003.142. View

15.

Turnin M, Beddok R, Clottes J, MARTINI P, Abadie R, Buisson J . Telematic expert system Diabeto. New tool for diet self-monitoring for diabetic patients. Diabetes Care. 1992; 15(2):204-12. DOI: 10.2337/diacare.15.2.204. View

16.

Wang D, Kogashiwa M, Kira S . Development of a new instrument for evaluating individuals' dietary intakes. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006; 106(10):1588-93. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2006.07.004. View

17.

Cohen M, Horowitz T, Wolfe J . Auditory recognition memory is inferior to visual recognition memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009; 106(14):6008-10. PMC: 2667065. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0811884106. View

18.

Franz M, Monk A, Barry B, McClain K, Weaver T, Cooper N . Effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy provided by dietitians in the management of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. J Am Diet Assoc. 1995; 95(9):1009-17. DOI: 10.1016/S0002-8223(95)00276-6. View

19.

Burke L, Sereika S, Music E, Warziski M, Styn M, Stone A . Using instrumented paper diaries to document self-monitoring patterns in weight loss. Contemp Clin Trials. 2007; 29(2):182-93. PMC: 2435095. DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2007.07.004. View

20.

Rollo M, Ash S, Lyons-Wall P, Russell A . Trial of a mobile phone method for recording dietary intake in adults with type 2 diabetes: evaluation and implications for future applications. J Telemed Telecare. 2011; 17(6):318-23. DOI: 10.1258/jtt.2011.100906. View