New HEAL Study – Can a Lifestyle Genomics Intervention Motivate Patients to Engage in Greater Physical Activity than a Population-Based Intervention? Results from the NOW Randomized Controlled Trial

• Post by: Rebecca Clarke
• 7:35PM Mar 22, 2021
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A team of researchers led by J. R. Horne, J. Gilliland, T. Leckie, C. O’Connor, J. A. Seabrook, and J. Madill recently published a study entitled: “Can a Lifestyle Genomics Intervention Motivate Patients to Engage in Greater Physical Activity than a Population-Based Intervention? Results from the NOW Randomized Controlled Trial.”

The aim of this study was to determine whether a lifestyle genomics (LGx) intervention could motivate enhanced engagement in PA to a greater extent than a population-based intervention. LGx is a science that explores interactions between genetic variation, lifestyle components such as physical activity (PA), and subsequent health- and performance-related outcomes.

In this pragmatic randomized controlled trial, participants received either the standard, population-based Group Lifestyle Balance^TM (GLB) program intervention or the GLB program in addition to the provision of LGx information and advice (GLB + LGx). Participants (n = 140) completed a 7-day PA recall at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. Data from the PA recalls were used to calculate metabolic equivalents (METs), a measure of energy expenditure. Statistical analyses included split plot analyses of covariance and binary logistic regression (generalized linear models). Differences in leisure time PA weekly METs, weekly minutes of moderate + high-intensity PA, and adherence to PA guidelines were compared between groups (GLB and GLB + LGx) across the 4 time points.

Weekly METs were significantly higher in the GLB + LGx group (1,114.7 ± 141.9; 95% CI 831.5–1,397.8) compared to the standard GLB group (621.6 ± 141.9 MET/week; 95% CI 338.4–904.8) at the 6-month follow-up (p = 0.01). All other results were non-significant. The provision of an LGx intervention resulted in a greater weekly leisure time PA energy expenditure after the 6-month follow-up. Future research should determine how this could be sustained over the long-term.

Citation: J. R. Horne, J. Gilliland, T. Leckie, C. O’Connor, J. A. Seabrook, and J. Madill (2020) “Can a Lifestyle Genomics Intervention Motivate Patients to Engage in Greater Physical Activity than a Population-Based Intervention? Results from the NOW Randomized Controlled Trial.” Lifestyle Genomics 13,180-186; https://doi.org/10.1159/000510216