Doctor supported weight loss programs are typically more effective than creating a plan of your own, a new study shows.
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Already previous research has indicated that a “quality patient-doctor relationship marked by good communication, empathy, collaboration, and trust is linked to better adherence to doctoral advice, medication schedules, and appointment keeping”, Dr. Wendy L. Bennett, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a primary care physician at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, said in a press release. The average BMI of the group was 36.3 and mean age of 55 years.
Notwithstanding the fact that the general rate of weight loss was modest, participants who answered that the primary care physician’s support did specifically help lost twice the number of pounds as compared to those who did not reckon the physician’s support as helpful. When the trial reached its conclusion, the participants completed surveys that are filled with questions about their connection with their primary care doctors.
But the patients who gave their physicians the highest ratings on “helpfulness” during the trial lost an average of 11 pounds, compared to just over 5 pounds for those who gave their physicians the lowest “helpfulness” ratings. Weight loss programs, diet control programs, exercise regime, physician-controlled weight loss, supplements and many other options are available in the market. They claim the study has become all the more necessary since many more commercial programs think they can substitute doctors’ place, particularly among patients suffering from obesity.
A recent study confirms that physicians’ support can help obese patients lose weight at a much faster speed than they normally would when participating in commercial programs.
According to the National Institutes of Health statistics more than 33% of adults in the U.S. are at present obese.
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The study team added, “Results of a review showed that almost all of the 347 patient surveys reviewed for the Johns Hopkins study reported high-quality relationships with their physicians, with the overall relationship showing little effect on weight loss”. Satisfaction with primary care provider involvement is associated with greater weight loss: Results from the practice-based POWER trial.
