Weight management treatments increase weight loss in patients with obesity, finds study

For patients with obesity, weight management treatments (WMTs) are associated with an increased probability of 5 percent or greater weight loss, according to a study published online Feb. 15 in JAMA Network Open.

James Henderson, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues characterize weight status and WMT use among primary care patients in a retrospective, population-based cohort study.

Patients with obesity and WMT exposure, including nutritional counseling, very low-calorie meal replacement (MR), antiobesity medications (AOM), and bariatric surgery, and matched controls were included.

The researchers found that from 2017 to 2019, there was an increase in the prevalence of obesity among 138,682 patients, from 39.2 to 40.7 percent; among people with obesity, WMT use increased from 5.3 to 7.1 percent.

The one-year probability of 5 percent or greater weight loss without WMT exposure was 15.6 percent in a multistate model (10,180 patients; 33.549 patient-years). The probability of 5 percent or greater weight loss was higher with year-long exposures to any WMT (23.1, 54.6, 27.8, and 93.0 percent for nutrition counseling, MR, AOM, and bariatric surgery, respectively).

"Low rates of WMT utilization hindered population-level benefit. Health systems and insurers should consider novel strategies to enhance preference-sensitive use of WMT to optimize achievement of 5 percent or greater weight loss among individuals and populations with obesity," the authors write.