Formative Development of ClockWork for the Postpartum Period: A Theory-Based Intervention to Harness the Circadian Timing System to Address Cardiometabolic Health-Related Behaviors

Rachel P. Kolko Conlon (), Haomin Hu, Andi Saptono, Marquis S. Hawkins, Bambang Parmanto, Michele D. Levine and Daniel J. Buysse
Additional contact information
Rachel P. Kolko Conlon: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Haomin Hu: Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Andi Saptono: Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Marquis S. Hawkins: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Bambang Parmanto: Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Michele D. Levine: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Daniel J. Buysse: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Individuals with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m 2 before pregnancy have greater difficulty losing the weight gained during pregnancy, and this postpartum weight retention predicts higher risk for cardiometabolic disease. The postpartum period involves substantial disruptions in circadian rhythms, including rhythms related to eating, physical activity, sleep, and light/dark exposure, each of which are linked to obesity and cardiometabolic disease in non-pregnant adult humans and animals. We posit that a multi-component, circadian timing system-based behavioral intervention that uses digital tools— ClockWork —will be feasible and acceptable to postpartum individuals and help promote weight- and cardiometabolic health-related behaviors. We provide data from stakeholder interviews with postpartum individuals (pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 25; n = 7), which were conducted to obtain feedback on and improve the relevance and utility of digital self-monitoring tools for health behaviors and weight during the postpartum period. Participants perceived the ClockWork intervention and digital monitoring app to be helpful for management of postpartum weight-related health behaviors. They provided specific recommendations for increasing the feasibility intervention goals and improving app features for monitoring behaviors. Personalized, easily accessible interventions are needed to promote gestational weight loss after delivery; addressing circadian behaviors is an essential component of such interventions. Future studies will evaluate the efficacy of the ClockWork intervention and associated digital tools for improving cardiometabolic health-related behaviors linked to the circadian timing system during the postpartum period.

Keywords: postpartum period; health behavior; eating; sleep; circadian rhythms; body weight (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3669/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3669/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3669-:d:1073295

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().