Using an API to commercialize an evidence-based weight loss intervention

描述（由申请人提供）：目前超过69%的美国人口超重或肥胖；35%的人肥胖。肥胖是许多慢性疾病的主要原因，包括II型糖尿病、癌症、心脏病和代谢综合征。行为减肥干预成功地导致了显著的临床体重改善（体重减轻7- 10%），并持续了至少6-12个月。不幸的是，此类干预措施往往耗时、资源密集且难以规模化。数字健康为解决减肥问题带来了巨大的希望，一些试验表明，使用数字健康工具可以实现有意义的减肥。数字医疗提供了一种手段，通过高度个性化的内容和持续的长期参与者参与，以低成本接触到大量人群。尽管有这样的承诺，但数字医疗并没有实现。商业数字卫生领域几乎没有基于证据的工具。这个应用程序为数字健康创造了一个新的商业市场——健康应用程序编程接口。API是软件应用程序用双方都能理解的语言相互通信的一种方式。api在商业市场中效率高、成本低且无处不在。API使我们能够以高效、经济的方式传播基于证据的干预措施。api允许我们以开发人员的“语言”传播有效的干预，同时保留干预的理论和证据基础。api可用于任何使用软件的地方，因此它们将使我们能够触及各种健康细分市场，包括应用程序开发商、疾病管理公司、健康保险公司和员工健康公司。在第一阶段，我们将创建一个商业减肥API (WeightBox)，它建立在现有的基于证据的框架上，并评估其可用性。在第二阶段，我们将在随机临床试验中测试使用WeightBox API的移动应用程序的有效性。在第二阶段结束时，我们的API（和原理验证应用程序）可能是市场上唯一具有临床试验有效性证据的数字健康减肥工具。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over 69 percent of the U.S. population is currently overweight or obese; 35 percent are obese. Obesity is a primary cause of numerous chronic diseases including type II diabetes, cancer, heart disease and the metabolic syndrome. Behavioral weight loss interventions have successfully resulted in significant clinical improvements in weight (7-10 percent weight loss) that is sustained for at least 6-12 months. Unfortunately, such interventions are often time consuming, resource intensive and difficult to scale. Digital health holds enormous promise for addressing weight loss and several trials have shown meaningful weight loss using digital health tools. Digital health provides a means of reaching large numbers of people with highly personalized content and sustained long-term participant engagement -all at low cost. Despite the promise, digital health has not delivered. Evidence-based tools are virtually absent from the commercial digital health space. This application creates a new commercial market segment for digital health - health application programming interfaces. An API is a way for software applications to talk to one another in a language that they both understand. APIs are efficient, cost effective, and ubiquitous in the commercial market. The API allows us to disseminate evidence based interventions in an efficient, cost-effective manner. APIs allow us to disseminate effective interventions in developer's "language," while preserving the interventions' theoretical and evidentiary basis. APIs are used anywhere that software is used, so they will allow us to reach varied health market segments including app developers, disease management firms, health insurers and employee wellness firms. In Phase I, we will create a commercial weight loss API (WeightBox) that builds on an existing evidence based framework and evaluate its usability. In Phase II, we will test the effectiveness of a mobile app that uses the WeightBox API in a randomized clinical trial. At the end of Phase II, our API (and proof-of-principle app) might be the only digital healt weight loss tools in the market with clinical trial effectiveness evidence.