Patients required to phone-in their weight 3X per week lost 27 lbs vs 4 lbs for no-phone-call group

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Friday, October 22, 2010 7:11 am Email this article
Overweight patients who were put on a diet and required to make a phone call three times per week to report their weight, lost 22.9 pounds more after six months than patients who were simply put on a diet but were not required to make the phone calls according to a study from Greece. Phone Call Group

Phone call group: -27.3 lbs

Patients in the phone call group lost an average of 27.3 pounds, dropping from 224 pounds to 196 pounds.

Phone call group: BMI reduced 3.9 units

Body mass index (BMI) in the phone group decreased 3.9 units, from 37.6 to 33.7.

 

No Phone Call Group

No-Phone call group: -4.4 lbs

Patients in the no-phone call group lost an average of 4.4 pounds, dropping from 224 pounds to 219 pounds.

No-phone call group: BMI reduced 0.6 units

Body mass index (BMI) in the no-phone group was reduced by 0.6 units, from 37.8 to 37.2.

 

Subjects

Subjects: 122 patients, 88% women, 44-years-old, BMI of 37.7

The study involved 122 patients. Eighty-eight (88) percent were female.

The average age was 44-years-old, and the average starting body mass index was 37.7.

 

Comments

Comments

The difference in weight loss in this study (27.3 pounds versus 4.4 pounds) is staggering.

It shows the power of being held accountable.

A number of doctors have told me the same thing; the more often they can get patients to come in to their office, the more weight they lose.

One very successful doctor who I spoke to said he has hired someone to do nothing but call patients on a regular basis and find out how they are doing with their weight. He also sends out emails to his patients on a regular basis.

I imagine that accountability works, not just with losing weight, but in all areas of life including finances, fitness, education, etc.

REFERENCE

Goulis D, Giaglis G, Boren S, Lekka I, Bontis E, Balas E, Maglaveras N, Avramides A. Effectiveness of home-centered care through telemedicine applications for overweight and obese patients: a randomized controlled trial. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Nov, 28(11):1391-98.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

D. Goulis
Department of Endocrinology
Hippocration General Hospital
49 Constantinoupoleos street
54642, Thessaloniki, Greece
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