Spinal Cord InjuriesNCT05468437
Telenutrition for Individuals With SCI
A study testing Telenutrition in people with Spinal Cord Injuries and Obesity, run by Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This study will provide nutrition counseling via FaceTime on an iPad to persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) who are overweight or obese and are at least one-year post-injury. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 20 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Spinal Cord Injuries, Obesity, Cardiometabolic Syndrome
- What is being tested?
- Telenutrition
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 96 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 13 Jun 2022to 31 Aug 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 20 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Individuals with traumatic SCI
- At least 1-year post-injury
- Age 20 years of age or older
- BMI > 22 kg/m2 at enrollment
- Proficiency in English or Spanish
- Living at home or in a private home setting (i.e., not an extended care facility) in the state of California
Show all 10Show fewer
- Able / willing to come to SCVMC for in-person assessments
- Primarily a wheelchair user (>40 hours per week)
- Able to use, or learn how to use, an iPad
- Possess adequate decision-making capacity to provide independent informed consent
Who cannot join
- Medical instability (e.g., uncontrolled hypertension, pneumonia, severe pressure injury)
- Current self-reported pregnancy
- Other medical condition requiring a strict specialized diet (e.g., renal failure, diabetes)
- Participation in another diet program (e.g., Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, clinic-based program) and/or participated in another diet program within the past 6 months
- Current or past diagnosis of an eating disorder (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder)
- Receiving enteral nutrition
Show all 9Show fewer
- Individuals without a primary care physician
- HbA1c >7% (these individuals would need to be treated with metformin or other anti-diabetic medication and the intervention would have to be significantly altered for them)
- Individuals who are in law enforcement custody
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
San Jose, California, 95128
About this study
Official title: Telenutrition to Improve Cardiometabolic Health and Quality of Life Among Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury
This study will provide nutrition counseling via FaceTime on an iPad to persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) who are overweight or obese and are at least one-year post-injury. Nutrition counseling may help participants to develop eating behaviors that match the participants' needs and help improve heart health. The purpose of this project is to decrease the risk of complications like obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and explore associations between bowel and bladder function and nutrition. This study will require 3 in person visits that are about 3 months apart. The total length of the study is about 6 months and includes 3 months of telenutrition counseling.
Read the detailed description
The first phase of this study will include screening the participants' medical record for study eligibility. If potentially eligible, participants will partake in a secondary in-person screening assessment involving a fasting blood draw and weight, height, body fat, and waist circumference measurements. After the team receives the screening results and if participants continue to remain eligible, the second phase of the study (described below) will begin.
Following screening, participants will be enrolled into the 6-month study. Half of the enrolled participants will be scheduled for telenutrition counselling within the first three months of the study period. This group is called the "immediate treatment group". The other half will receive telenutrition counselling in the second three-month period. This group is called the "delayed treatment group". Participants will be informed which group they are assigned to and provided with details of the care that they will receive shortly after the screening phase is completed. Participants will have 50% chance of being assigned to the immediate treatment group and 50% chance of being assigned to the delayed treatment group.
Both groups will receive the same nutrition education and individualized nutrition counselling via videoconferencing with iPad FaceTime, which is aimed to decrease the risk of complications like obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and explore associations between bowel and bladder function and nutrition. The telenutrition counselling consists of 6 sessions that are scheduled approximately 2 weeks apart. The first session will last approximately 1 hour, while sessions 2-6 will last approximately 30mins. During these sessions, the Registered Dietitian will share nutrition education tailored towards people with SCI. Participants will be involved in developing personal nutrition goals and the dietitian will help address barriers to meeting goals and provide individualized feedback to improve and maintain their nutrition. Telenutrition appointments will maintain privacy and will not be recorded.
To help participate in telenutrition sessions and complete the required assessments, each participant will receive an iPad mini with a 6-month data plan. Once study participation is complete, the investigators will stop the data plan but participants will get to keep the iPads. There are 3 outcome assessment spaced 3 months apart (baseline, short-term, and intermediate term). Each will include the same outcome assessments involving surveys, body measurements, and a blood draw.
- Conditions
- Spinal Cord Injuries, Obesity, Cardiometabolic Syndrome
- Being tested
- Telenutrition
- Keywords
- Spinal Cord injury, Obesity, Cardiometabolic, cardiovascular, bowel, bladder, nutrition, telehealth
- Medical subject headings
- Spinal Cord Injuries, Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
TelenutritionBehavioural
Nutrition education and individualized nutrition counseling will be done with a Registered Dietitian via video-conferencing with iPad FaceTime, which is aimed to decrease the risk of complications like obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and explore associations between bowel and bladder function and nutrition. The telenutrition counseling consists of 6 sessions that are scheduled approximately 2 weeks apart. The first session will last approximately 1 hour, while sessions 2-6 will last approximately 30mins. During these sessions, the Registered Dietitian will share nutrition education tailored towards people with SCI. You will be involved in developing personal nutrition goals and the dietitian will help you address barriers to meeting your goals and provide individualized feedback to improve and maintain your nutrition. Telenutrition appointments will maintain privacy and will not be recorded.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate treatment | Experimental | Three months of treatment followed by a 3 month durability phase Receives: Behavioral: Telenutrition |
| Delayed Treatment | Experimental | A 3 month waitlist period followed by 3 months of treatment Receives: Behavioral: Telenutrition |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores
HEI scores from participants' individual dietary intakes at different time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months from baseline, end of 6 months from baseline) will be reported. Changes in HEI scores following intervention will be compared to pre-intervention baseline scores (within group comparison) as well as scores from the waitlisted group (between group comparison) and reported accordingly. In addition, longer-term changes in HEI scores (for individuals from the immediate intervention group) during the durability phase will also be reported.
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Secondary outcomes (11)
Blood lipid profile
Lipid profile constituting of Triglycerides (TG), Total Cholesterol (TC); low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and High-density lipoprotein (HDL)- values (all expressed as mg/dL) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). In addition, absolute changes in values will also be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
HbA1C
Blood values of HbA1C (expressed as percentage) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Changes in percent values will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Vitamin D
Blood values of Vitamin D (expressed as ng/mL) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). In addition, absolute changes will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs-CRP]
Blood values of hs-CRP (expressed as mg/L) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). In addition, absolute changes will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group)
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Multiple measures (weight in kg and height in meters) will be aggregated to arrive at one reported BMI values (expressed as kg/m^2). BMI values will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Absolute changes in values will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Waist circumference
Waist circumference (in inches) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Absolute changes in values will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Fat percent
Fat percent (%) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Changes in percentage values will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Bowel function
Changes in bowel function (as determined by the Simon Fraser University (SFU) bowel survey questions based on a rating scale) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Changes in perceived rating will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Bladder function
Changes in bladder function (as determined by the SF-Qualiveen survey expressed as a score) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Changes in scores will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Quality of Life (Qol) measure
Changes in Qol [using the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) survey based on a rating scale) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Changes in perceived ratings will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Frequency of Autonomic Dysreflexia (AD)
Changes in frequency of AD (as determined by the SFU AD survey questions expressed on a 5-point likert scale) will be reported at all time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months and at the end of 6 months). Changes in rating will be reported following intervention compared to pre-intervention levels (within group comparison) and waitlisted group (between group comparison) as well as during the durability phase (for the immediate intervention group).
Measured: 0, 3 and 6 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted21 Jul 2022
- Study start13 Jun 2022
- Primary completion1 Mar 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Aug 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Spinal Cord InjuriesStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Model description
- This is a wait-list control study. Individuals in the immediate treatment group will receive the intervention in the first 3 months, followed by a 3 month durability phase. The delayed treatment group will receive the intervention in the second 3 month period.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 96 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- San Jose State University, University of California, San Francisco
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Kazuko Shem, MD, Principal investigator, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05468437
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 21-038
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 21 Jun 2022
- Last updated
- 1 Sep 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 1 Sep 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Telenutrition to Improve Cardiometabolic Health and Quality of Life Among Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05468437
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 21-038
- Conditions
- Spinal Cord Injuries, Obesity, Cardiometabolic Syndrome
- Keywords
- Spinal Cord injury, Obesity, Cardiometabolic, cardiovascular, bowel, bladder, nutrition, telehealth
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 96 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital SystemUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- San Jose State University, University of California, San Francisco
- Study start
- 13 Jun 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Mar 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Aug 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 21 Jul 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study will provide nutrition counseling via FaceTime on an iPad to persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) who are overweight or obese and are at least one-year post-injury. Nutrition counseling may help participants to develop eating behaviors that match the participants' needs and help improve heart health. The purpose of this project is to decrease the risk of complications like obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and explore associations between bowel and bladder function and nutrition. This study will require 3 in person visits that are about 3 months apart. The total length of the study is about 6 months and includes 3 months of telenutrition counseling.
Detailed description
The first phase of this study will include screening the participants' medical record for study eligibility. If potentially eligible, participants will partake in a secondary in-person screening assessment involving a fasting blood draw and weight, height, body fat, and waist circumference measurements. After the team receives the screening results and if participants continue to remain eligible, the second phase of the study (described below) will begin.
Following screening, participants will be enrolled into the 6-month study. Half of the enrolled participants will be scheduled for telenutrition counselling within the first three months of the study period. This group is called the "immediate treatment group". The other half will receive telenutrition counselling in the second three-month period. This group is called the "delayed treatment group". Participants will be informed which group they are assigned to and provided with details of the care that they will receive shortly after the screening phase is completed. Participants will have 50% chance of being assigned to the immediate treatment group and 50% chance of being assigned to the delayed treatment group.
Both groups will receive the same nutrition education and individualized nutrition counselling via videoconferencing with iPad FaceTime, which is aimed to decrease the risk of complications like obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and explore associations between bowel and bladder function and nutrition. The telenutrition counselling consists of 6 sessions that are scheduled approximately 2 weeks apart. The first session will last approximately 1 hour, while sessions 2-6 will last approximately 30mins. During these sessions, the Registered Dietitian will share nutrition education tailored towards people with SCI. Participants will be involved in developing personal nutrition goals and the dietitian will help address barriers to meeting goals and provide individualized feedback to improve and maintain their nutrition. Telenutrition appointments will maintain privacy and will not be recorded.
To help participate in telenutrition sessions and complete the required assessments, each participant will receive an iPad mini with a 6-month data plan. Once study participation is complete, the investigators will stop the data plan but participants will get to keep the iPads. There are 3 outcome assessment spaced 3 months apart (baseline, short-term, and intermediate term). Each will include the same outcome assessments involving surveys, body measurements, and a blood draw.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Crossover
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- This is a wait-list control study. Individuals in the immediate treatment group will receive the intervention in the first 3 months, followed by a 3 month durability phase. The delayed treatment group will receive the intervention in the second 3 month period.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate treatment | Experimental | Behavioral: TelenutritionThree months of treatment followed by a 3 month durability phase |
| Delayed Treatment | Experimental | Behavioral: TelenutritionA 3 month waitlist period followed by 3 months of treatment |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 20 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (10 listed)
- Individuals with traumatic SCI
- At least 1-year post-injury
- Age 20 years of age or older
- BMI > 22 kg/m2 at enrollment
- Proficiency in English or Spanish
Key exclusion criteria (9 listed)
- Medical instability (e.g., uncontrolled hypertension, pneumonia, severe pressure injury)
- Current self-reported pregnancy
- Other medical condition requiring a strict specialized diet (e.g., renal failure, diabetes)
- Participation in another diet program (e.g., Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, clinic-based program) and/or participated in another diet program within the past 6 months
- Current or past diagnosis of an eating disorder (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder)
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| TelenutritionNutrition education and individualized nutrition counseling will be done with a Registered Dietitian via video-conferencing with iPad FaceTime, which is aimed to decrease the risk of complications like obesity, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and explore associations between bowel and bladder function and nutrition. The telenutrition counseling consists of 6 sessions that are scheduled approximately 2 weeks apart. The first session will last approximately 1 hour, while sessions 2-6 will last approximately 30mins. During these sessions, the Registered Dietitian will share nutrition education tailored towards people with SCI. You will be involved in developing personal nutrition goals and the dietitian will help you address barriers to meeting your goals and provide individualized feedback to improve and maintain your nutrition. Telenutrition appointments will maintain privacy and will not be recorded. | Behavioural | Delayed Treatment, Immediate treatment |
Primary outcome
Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
HEI scores from participants' individual dietary intakes at different time-points of evaluations (baseline/pre-intervention, end of 3 months from baseline, end of 6 months from baseline) will be reported. Changes in HEI scores following intervention will be compared to pre-intervention baseline scores (within group comparison) as well as scores from the waitlisted group (between group comparison) and reported accordingly. In addition, longer-term changes in HEI scores (for individuals from the immediate intervention group) during the durability phase will also be reported.
11 secondary outcomes
Blood lipid profile
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
HbA1C
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Vitamin D
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs-CRP]
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Waist circumference
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Fat percent
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Bowel function
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Bladder function
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Quality of Life (Qol) measure
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Frequency of Autonomic Dysreflexia (AD)
Time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 1 Sep 2026.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Kazuko Shem, MD principal investigator
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Telenutrition in people with Spinal Cord Injuries and Obesity, run by Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 10 inclusion and 9 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 1 Sep 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores (time frame: 0, 3 and 6 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 1 Sep 2026.