%0 Journal Article
%T Feasibility of a co-designed online nutrition education program for people with multiple sclerosis.
%A Russell RD
%A Begley A
%A Daly A
%A Dunlop E
%A Mazahery H
%A Pham MN
%A Grech L
%A Black LJ
%J Mult Scler Relat Disord
%V 90
%N 0
%D 2024 Aug 12
%M 39146893
%F 4.808
%R 10.1016/j.msard.2024.105816
%X OBJECTIVE: Diet quality is important for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but conflicting online information causes them confusion. People with MS want evidence-based MS-specific information to help them make healthy dietary changes, and we co-designed an asynchronous, online nutrition education program (Eating Well with MS) with the MS community. Our aim was to determine the feasibility of Eating Well with MS.
METHODS: We used a single-arm pre-post design. The feasibility trial was a nine-week intervention with adults with confirmed MS. Feasibility outcomes: 1) demand (recruitment); 2) practicality (completion); 3) acceptability (Intrinsic Motivation Inventory: interest/enjoyment and value/usefulness subscales); and 4) limited efficacy testing (Diet Habits Questionnaire (DHQ); Critical Nutrition Literacy Tool (CNLT); Food Literacy Behaviour Checklist (FLBC), using intention-to-treat analysis).
RESULTS: Recruitment (n = 70) exceeded the target (n = 48) within six weeks. Of the 70 enrolled, 84 % completed at least one module and 54 % completed the full program (five modules). The median interest/enjoyment rating was 5 out of 7 and median value/usefulness rating was 6 out of 7 (where 7 = 'very true'). Compared to pre-intervention, DHQ, CNLT, and FLBC scores all statistically significantly improved post-intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: Eating Well with MS was well received by the MS community and improved their dietary behaviours; demonstrating feasibility. Our findings support the use of co-design methods when developing resources to improve dietary behaviours.