A Trial of Weight-Loss Strategies in Primary Care

Although primary care providers are urged to help patients lose weight in the name of cardiovascular health, few validated tools are available to allow them to do so. Researchers studied two models of intervention, both designed to be reasonably reproducible in an average outpatient setting.

In one study, 415 computer-literate obese patients in Baltimore were randomized to receive remote (phone-, e-mail–, and Internet-based) weight-loss coaching (with or without additional individual and group sessions) or usual care (a single coaching session and a list of relevant Internet sites). During 2 years, adherence to the recommended coaching schedules was poor enough that both intervention groups tallied similar median numbers of contacts. Still, …