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Provider Counseling and Weight Loss Outcomes in a Primary Care-Based Digital Obesity Treatment.

Publication ,  Journal Article
McVay, M; Steinberg, D; Askew, S; Bennett, GG
Published in: Journal of general internal medicine
June 2019

Primary care-based digital health weight loss interventions offer promise for addressing obesity in underserved populations.To determine if primary care providers' weight counseling is associated with weight change during a weight loss intervention.This is a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial testing a 12-month primary care-based digital health weight loss intervention.Participants were community health center patients with body mass indexes of 30-44.9 kg/m2.The weight loss intervention included tailored behavioral goal setting; weekly goal monitoring via text messaging or interactive voice response calls; counseling calls; skills training material; and participant-tailored recommendations for provider counseling.At 6 and 12 months, participants' weight was measured and they reported if their provider delivered weight counseling (general or intervention-specific) at their most recent visit and their perception of providers' empathy. Providers' documentation of weight counseling was extracted from health records.Participants (n = 134-141) were predominantly female (70%) and African American (55%) with a mean age of 51 years and BMI of 36 kg/m2. Participant-reported provider weight counseling was not associated with weight change. However, participants whose providers documented intervention-specific counseling at any point during the intervention (n = 35) lost 3.1 kg (95% CI 0.4 to 5.7 kg) more than those whose providers documented only general weight counseling (n = 82) and 4.0 kg (95% CI 0.1 to 7.9 kg) more than those whose providers did not document weight counseling (n = 17). Perceptions of provider empathy were associated with greater weight loss from 6 to 12 months (0.8 kg per measure unit, 95% CI 0.07 to 1.5 kg, p = .03).Provider counseling that focuses specifically on engagement in a weight loss intervention may enhance weight loss outcomes relative to more general weight loss advice. Counseling that enhances patients' perceptions of empathy may be most beneficial for patients' weight loss.NCT01827800.

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Published In

Journal of general internal medicine

DOI

EISSN

1525-1497

ISSN

0884-8734

Publication Date

June 2019

Volume

34

Issue

6

Start / End Page

992 / 998

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight Reduction Programs
  • Weight Loss
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Primary Health Care
  • Obesity
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Health Personnel
  • General & Internal Medicine
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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McVay, M., Steinberg, D., Askew, S., & Bennett, G. G. (2019). Provider Counseling and Weight Loss Outcomes in a Primary Care-Based Digital Obesity Treatment. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34(6), 992–998. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-04944-5
McVay, Megan, Dori Steinberg, Sandy Askew, and Gary G. Bennett. “Provider Counseling and Weight Loss Outcomes in a Primary Care-Based Digital Obesity Treatment.Journal of General Internal Medicine 34, no. 6 (June 2019): 992–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-04944-5.
McVay M, Steinberg D, Askew S, Bennett GG. Provider Counseling and Weight Loss Outcomes in a Primary Care-Based Digital Obesity Treatment. Journal of general internal medicine. 2019 Jun;34(6):992–8.
McVay, Megan, et al. “Provider Counseling and Weight Loss Outcomes in a Primary Care-Based Digital Obesity Treatment.Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 34, no. 6, June 2019, pp. 992–98. Epmc, doi:10.1007/s11606-019-04944-5.
McVay M, Steinberg D, Askew S, Bennett GG. Provider Counseling and Weight Loss Outcomes in a Primary Care-Based Digital Obesity Treatment. Journal of general internal medicine. 2019 Jun;34(6):992–998.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of general internal medicine

DOI

EISSN

1525-1497

ISSN

0884-8734

Publication Date

June 2019

Volume

34

Issue

6

Start / End Page

992 / 998

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight Reduction Programs
  • Weight Loss
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Primary Health Care
  • Obesity
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Health Personnel
  • General & Internal Medicine