Vida Health Clinical Research Publications
Published Research and Clinical Outcomes
Clinical research shows that our members are transforming their physical and mental health across a spectrum of chronic conditions. Read on to see the latest evidence behind our products.
Vida Health's clinical and research teams focus on improving member outcomes in a series of ongoing studies to learn and share evidence-based best practices in virtual health.
Mental Health
Virtual therapy program drives rapid mental health improvements sustained through 9 months
Participants in a 12-week therapist-supported, app-based cognitive behavioral therapy program achieved the following average outcomes:
Depression score reductions as measured by PHQ-8:
▼43% in 6 months
▼54% in 9 months
Anxiety score reductions as measured by GAD-7:
▼51% in 6 months
▼61% in 9 months
Greater engagement led to greater reduction in depression and anxiety scores.
Venkatesan, A., Rahimi, L., Kaur, M., & Mosunic, C. (2020). Digital Cognitive Behavior Therapy Intervention for Depression and Anxiety: Retrospective Study. JMIR Mental Health, 7(8), e21304.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction program for subclinical mental health issues reduces stress in 3 months, with greater sustained results at month 6
Participants with moderate to high stress levels enrolled in a 10-week Vida Health mindfulness-based stress reduction program.
83% of participants experienced a reduction in perceived stress levels as measured by PSS-10 scores
▼15% (3.17 points) by 1.5 months
▼33% (6.77 points) by 6 months
More usage led to sustained progress.
Venkatesan A, Krymis H, Scharff J, Waber A. (2021). Changes in Perceived Stress following a 10-week Digital Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Program: A Retrospective Study. JMIR Formative Research. 16/10/2020:25078
Physical Health
Virtual CBT-based program improves both depression and weight loss outcomes in a polychronic population
Participants from a polychronic population (living with either type 2 diabetes, CVD, or obesity) joined a 12-week therapist-supported, app-based cognitive behavioral therapy program. They achieved the following average outcomes:
Mental health outcomes in 12 weeks:
74.5% of participants experienced a clinically significant reduction in depressive symptom severity
57.7% of participants experienced a clinically significant improvement in anxiety scores
Physical health outcomes in 9 months:
3x greater average percentage weight loss (4.5% with CBT-based program versus 1.5% without CBT-based program)
Greater engagement was associated with improvement in depressive symptoms.
Venkatesan, A.,Forster, B., Rao, P., Miller, M., Scahill, M. (2022). Improvements in Depression Outcomes Following a Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention in a Polychronic Population: Retrospective Study. JMIR Form Res, 6(7), e38005.
Vida Health’s virtual diabetes program significantly reduces HbA1c levels by more than most diabetes medications
We are excited to announce that the latest study of our virtual diabetes program has shown improvements in members’ blood glucose management. In 4 months, participants across the risk spectrum significantly lowered their HbA1c levels:
▼1.0-point (for those with baseline HbA1c of ≥7)
▼1.7-points (for those with baseline HbA1c of ≥ 8)
Zimmermann G, Venkatesan A, Rawlings K, Scahill M (2021)
Improved Glycemic Control With a Digital Health Intervention in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: Retrospective Study. JMIR Diabetes. 18/02/2021:28033
Vida Health’s virtual weight management program achieved better outcomes compared to in-person interventions
Participants enrolled in a 6 month intensive weight management coaching program, followed by a maintenance phase with one-on-one health coaching sessions. At 12 months, the study showed a weight loss of:
▼7.2% in overweight patients
▼7.6% in obese patients
▼10.4% in patients aged 60+
Vida’s virtual weight management program exceeds CDC benchmarks of 5% weight loss for in-person weight loss programs by 44% and 52% for overweight and obese patients, *respectively.
Silberman, J. M., Kaur, M., Sletteland, J., & Venkatesan, A. (2020). Outcomes in a digital weight management intervention with one-on-one health coaching. PL oS one, 15(4), e0232221
Silberman, J., Kaur, M., Sletteland, J., & Venkatesan, A (2019, November). Outcomes in a Digital Weight Management Intervention with One-On-One Health Coaching. Poster session presented at Obesity Week Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV
Vida digital coaching promotes weight loss and improvements in blood pressure for overweight patients
Overweight patients received 4 months of intensive health coaching via video, phone, and text-messaging. mHealth users showed superior progress in reducing their cardiovascular risk factors:
- ▼3.2% of total body weight loss among mHealth users at 4 months of coaching
- 1.8% weight gain without Vida coaching
- 4.3% difference in body weight change between Vida clients and matched-pair control group.
- >75% of participants improved their severity of hypertension by at least one disease stage
Mao, A. Y., Chen, C., Magana, C., Barajas, K. C., & Olayiwola, J. N. (2017). A mobile phone-based health coaching intervention for weight loss and blood pressure reduction in a national payer population: a retrospective study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 5(6), e80.
Improved weight loss, nutrition, activity levels, and energy for breast cancer survivors
Women with curative-intent breast cancer received a survivorship care plan and enrolled in a 6-month program with Vida’s live coaching app. A control group received the same information but, instead of access to the app, were given a self-guided toolkit. Of Vida users:
- 61% lost weight, compared with 36% in the control group
- 62% saw a reduction in fatigue symptoms (compared with 49% in the control group)
- 81% were able to better adhere to a plant-based diet, compared to 51% in the control group
- 18% saw an improvement in their levels of strenuous activity
Cairo J, Williams L, Bray L, Goetzke K, Perez AC (2020). Evaluation of a mobile health intervention to improve wellness outcomes for breast cancer survivors. J Patient Cent Res Rev, 7:313-22.
Cairo, J., Williams, L. Goetze, K. & Bray. L (2019, October). Evaluation of a Mobile Health Intervention to Improve Wellness Outcomes for Breast Cancer Survivors. Poster session presented at JADPRO Live, The Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Using Vida's digital coaching program after cardiac rehabilitation can sustain gains in peak VO2 & physical activity
Participants underwent a 12-week digital coaching program following completion of cardiac rehabilitation. Normally, the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation are difficult to retain but Vida members showed superior long term outcomes:
- Vida Members avoided a 39% decline in moderate-low levels of activity, and a 33% decline in moderate-high levels of activity
- Vida members maintained 159 minutes of moderate-high levels of physical activity per week (the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes per week)
Duscha, B. D., Piner, L. W., Patel, M. P., Craig, K. P., Brady, M., McGarrah III, R. W., & Kraus, W. E. (2018). Effects of a 12-week mHealth program on peak VO2 and physical activity patterns after completing cardiac rehabilitation: A randomized controlled trial. American Heart Journal , 199 , 105-114.
Vida’s cardiovascular program empowers patients to take control of their health
Patients who were hospitalized for an acute myocardial infarction participated in a month-long one-on-one coaching program to help with medication adherence and lifestyle modification. Members showed greater confidence and competence in their post-hospitalization care:
- Patient engagement as measured by Patient Activation Measure (PAM-6) scores were significantly higher after Vida Coaching (mean improvement of 16.57 points)
- Patients were more likely to agree with the following statements:
• Net promoter scores of 53 following the app experience
Mao, Alice Y., et al. (2016): “Feasibility of a Smartphone-Based Health Coaching Intervention for Patient Self-Management of Risk Prevention After Acute Myocardial Infarction.” Circulation 134.suppl_1 A18295-A18295
Ongoing research plans
At Vida Health, we’re continually working to improve our services and test our methods with rigorous clinical research. We take pride in creating clinically proven programs that improve the health of our members. We’re working with academic medical centers to further study the impact of our interventions.
As we expand our services, we are further analyzing our programs’ impact on diabetes, weight, hypertension, and mental health, as well as the compounding effect of treating mental and physical health together in one polychronic platform.
For our enterprise customers, we’re studying how we can further reduce costs of care while providing exceptional support for employees. Be sure to check this page regularly for our latest updates.
