NCT05264740: Motivate

Motivational Interviewing to Promote Healthy Behaviours in Young Adults

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 18 May 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Motivational interviewing in Obesity in 101 participants. Completed in 1 February 2024.

Timeline

1 February 2023

Primary endpoint
1 February 2024

1 February 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	McMaster University
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	triple
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	101
Start date	1 February 2023
Primary completion	1 February 2024
Estimated completion	1 February 2024
Sites	1 location across Canada

Drugs / interventions tested

• Motivational interviewing
• Educational materials

Conditions studied

• Obesity — all drugs for Obesity →
• Risk Factors — all drugs for Risk Factors →

Sponsor

McMaster University

Who can join

Adults 18 to 29, any sex, with Obesity or Risk Factors. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Recruitment Rate Primary · At recruitment, over 6 months.

% of eligible participants who are recruited from all those who contact the research team to learn about the study

Group	Value	95% CI
Recruitment	101

Retention Rate Primary · from 0 to 6 months

% of participants who complete 6-month follow-up

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	43
no Motivational Interviewing	38

Data Completion Primary · At 6 months

Number of participants with no missing data on clinical outcomes

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	48
no Motivational Interviewing	45

Study Satisfaction Primary · At 6 months

Satisfaction was measured using a single-item question: "How satisfied are you with this research study?" Responses were collected on a 5-point Likert scale with the following options: 1. = Highly Dissatisfied 2. = Dissatisfied 3. = Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 4. = Satisfied 5. = Highly Satisfied Mean scores were calculated, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction.

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	3.8	± 1.02
no Motivational Interviewing	3.9	± 1.05

Body Mass Index (BMI) Change Secondary · Change from 0 to 6 months

Change in BMI from baseline to 6-month follow-up

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	-0.3	± 0.89
no Motivational Interviewing	-0.5	± 1.52

Physical Activity Secondary · At 6 months

Minutes per day from activity trackers and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).Participants self-reported the number of days per week they engaged in moderate and vigorous physical activity using items adapted from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Responses ranged from 0 to 7 days per week for each activity type.

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	14
no Motivational Interviewing	12
Motivational Interviewing	19
no Motivational Interviewing	19
Motivational Interviewing	11
no Motivational Interviewing	6
Motivational Interviewing	0
no Motivational Interviewing	0

Sedentary Time Secondary · At 6 months

Measured per day from activity trackers and questionnaire. Sedentary behaviour was assessed using the International Sedentary Assessment Tool (ISAT).

Sitting (pastime) (hrs)

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	5	3 – 7.4
no Motivational Interviewing	4	2.6 – 6

Driving (hrs)

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	1	0.5 – 2
no Motivational Interviewing	1	0.5 – 2

Sitting (full day) (hrs)

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	7.9	5 – 10
no Motivational Interviewing	8	6 – 9.9

Nutrition Secondary · At 6 months

Measured from National Cancer Institute's Dietary Screener Questionnaire. Items from the National Cancer Institute's Dietary Screener Questionnaire (DSQ), which asked participants how often they consumed fruit over the past month. Responses ranged from "Never" to "More than once a day" and were reported separately for each item as frequency categories (n, %).

<1 time per week

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	6
no Motivational Interviewing	7

1-5 times/week

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	25
no Motivational Interviewing	20

≥1 time/day

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	12
no Motivational Interviewing	10

Mental Health Secondary · At 6 months

Depressive Symptoms- defined by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). \>=10 indicating presence of depressive symptoms, \<10 no depressive symptoms.

Group	Value	95% CI
Motivational Interviewing	23
no Motivational Interviewing	20
Motivational Interviewing	21
no Motivational Interviewing	19

Sponsor's own description

The overall goals of this project are to evaluate the feasibility of web-based nurse-led motivational interviewing and educational interventions to promote healthy behaviours for obesity prevention and maintenance of healthy weight and behaviours among young adults attending university (age 18-29) in Hamilton, Ontario. A secondary goal is to evaluate if the intervention is more successful among people at higher risk of obesity (a risk stratification approach). A pilot randomized controlled trial will be conducted. Young adults will be randomized to receive a tailored behavioural intervention through motivational interviewing sessions with a nurse combined with educational materials, or control (educational materials only). Both groups will be followed for 6 months and their weight at baseline and end of the study will be measured. Outcomes related to the feasibility of the intervention and participants' experiences in the study will also be measured.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Motivational interviewing to promote healthy behaviors for obesity prevention in young adults (MOTIVATE): a pilot randomized controlled trial protocol.
   Anderson LN, Alvarez E, Incze T, Tarride JE, et al · · 2023 · cited 2× · PMID 37679845 · DOI 10.1186/s40814-023-01385-0
2. Motivational interviewing for health behavior change among young adults in Canada: Findings from the MOTIVATE pilot randomized controlled trial.
   Incze T, Khademioore S, Alvarez E, Kwan M, et al · · 2026 · PMID 41846588 · DOI 10.1016/j.pmedr.2026.103440