Simple, Inexpensive Interventions May Help Obese Patients Maintain Weight Loss

According to a new study, telephone interventions were effective at supporting weight maintenance in obese patients.

The initial study included 504 obese participants from 3 primary care clinics at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Of the 504 enrolled in the initial study, 222 participants lost at least 4 kg of body weight in a 16-week weight loss program and were included in the weight maintenance trial.
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During the 16-week weight loss program, the mean weight loss was 7.2 kg. The mean weight of participants when randomly assigned to the 2 groups was 103.6 kg.

Researchers randomly assigned 110 participants to the weight maintenance intervention program and 112 to usual care for 56 weeks. Weight loss, caloric intake, walking, and moderate physical activity were recorded.

The maintenance intervention program was conducted primarily by telephone and provided patients with relapse-prevention planning, self-monitoring and social support, and addressed satisfaction with outcomes. The intervention cost approximately $275 per patient. Participants assigned to usual care did not receive any contact.

At 56 weeks, the mean weight regain in participants in the intervention group was significantly lower than the usual care group, with 0.75 kg regained in the intervention group compared to 2.36 kg in the usual care group. Researchers did not find any statistically significant differences in self-reported caloric intake, walking, and moderate physical activity between the 2 groups.

“An intervention focused on maintenance-specific strategies and delivered in a resource-conserving way modestly slowed the rate of weight regain in obese adults,” the researchers concluded. However, researchers reported that the intervention may not be successful in other settings.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Voils CI, Olsen MK, Gierisch JM, et al. Maintenance of weight loss after initiation of nutrition training: a randomized trial [published online February 21, 2017]. Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/M16-2160.