A Primary Care Weight Loss Program with an Intensive Behavioral Therapy including Diet and Exercise Education

Abstract Promoting weight loss in overweight and obese adults is imperative in the primary care setting. Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) has demonstrated a clinically significant weight loss in patients. Research is scant on promoting weight loss and completed research reports providers do not have time to address weight loss. The gap between providing weight loss services and implementing the strategies needs further exploration. This program was based on a pilot study by Thabault et al. (2015). The program goal was for patients to have a 5% weight loss since this is a recommendation from a top health organization in the United States. The program was implemented in a primary care office for obese, pre-diabetic patients over the age of sixty-five with tools on a diet and exercise education, including IBT with goal setting. Quantitative statistical analysis was completed with descriptive and nonparametric statistics. Bivariate analysis with chi-square method for further regression demonstrated a significant change in weight when BMI was accounted for with a value of p=.0001. Qualitative analysis analyzed a patient satisfaction survey for favorability of the program. The patient satisfaction survey demonstrated patients felt favorable towards the support provided by the PI. The small size of the program was the major limitation; one subject dropped out of the program due to low health literacy related to the tools. The program results demonstrated an IBT weight loss program in a primary care office is an effective weight loss approach that is favorably received from patients