Characteristics of Alli® users and effect of drug on quality of life
Date
2012
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Introduction. This study was designed to explore characteristics of overweight and obese Alli® users and how the drug affected their quality of life. Methods. This obesity drug’s impact was investigated through a qualitative survey questionnaire. The population of interest was overweight or obese individuals (BMI =25) who were currently taking Alli®. The sample consisted of volunteers living in and outof the United States who met the criteria for the study; currentlytaking Alli® and the ability toanswer basic questions about their usage, compliance, weight loss, side effects and quality of life. Furthermore, individuals had to be =18 years of age to participate. Fliers were developed torecruit participants through several different methods. The only successful method was through the social networking site Facebook. Participants volunteered to completea short online surveythat was developed through the program Qualtrics®. Results. A total of 16 individuals responded to a requestfor participation in the study. All of the participants were female. In addition, the majority were also white, from the US and between the ages of 25 and 34. Most participants (57%) in this study had a BMI >40, with ~87% of participants with a BMI =30. The BMI range was between 26.9 and 57.6. The most common side effects documented were gastrointestinal (GI) problems. A significant association between race and quality of life for discrimination was seen with a p value .03. Conclusion. Due to the small sample size, the results are not representative ofthe whole population; therefore, results should not begeneralized to the population. However, this paper illustrates general patterns related to daily life functioning to medication use occurring in a sample of overweight/obese individuals. Recruitment through social media has the potential to reach more participants than traditional methods. Even though this study did not acquire many participants, social networking was the only recruiting method that worked. Social networking continues to become more popular and needs to be considered as a method of recruiting subjectsfor research.