Weight Loss Up With Self-Directed Behavioral Lifestyle Intervention

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A remotely delivered self-directed behavioral lifestyle intervention results in greater weight loss for adults with obesity than usual care at 12 months, but the difference is not clinically important, according to a study published in the Dec. 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Katherine D. Hoerster, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System in Seattle, and colleagues randomly assigned 511 adults with a body mass index of 30 or more and less than 45 to a remotely administered behavioral lifestyle intervention or control group (254 and 257, respectively). The intervention group received Diabetes Prevention Program-based self-directed videos, handouts, and coaching messages via an online platform or mail for 12 months; both groups also received usual care.

The researchers found that the unadjusted mean weight at 12 months decreased from 102.7 to 99.8 kg in the intervention group and from 101.9 to 101.0 kg in the control group (adjusted between-group mean difference, −1.93; 97.5 percent confidence interval, −3.24 to −0.61; P = 0.001). The unadjusted mean 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) physical component scores (PCS) decreased from 44.8 to 44.3 and from 44.5 to 43.2 at 12 months among the intervention and control participants (adjusted between-group mean difference, 0.69; 97.5 percent confidence interval, −1.11 to 2.49; P = 0.39).

"This study's self-directed intervention did not significantly improve SF-12 PCS scores compared with usual care," the authors write. "This may have been due to the intervention's modest effect on weight."

One author served as a paid scientific consultant for Health Mentor Inc.

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