medwireNews: Findings of a randomized trial indicate that engaging in group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) does not help people to maintain weight loss after a very-low-calorie diet.
Study participants randomly assigned to take part in group CBT, delivered over 18 months, regained 4 kg over 2 years of follow-up and those who received usual care regained 4.7 kg. The difference between the groups was not significant, even when the analysis was restricted to patients who had attended at least eight of the 17 scheduled CBT sessions.
The lack of difference was despite the CBT group receiving more healthcare contacts, in the form of the group sessions, which was not compensated for in the control groups, note Eric Sijbrands (Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and POWER study co-authors.
“Clearly, our randomised controlled trial does not support a beneficial effect of group-CBT on top of usual care,” they write in Diabetologia.
The 158 participants had previously lost at least 5% of their bodyweight after 8 weeks on a very-low-calorie diet. Among all participants, 19% did maintain their full weight loss, and 39% who lost at least 5% maintained this outcome, as did 18% of those who lost at least 10%.
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