Implementation of a Community-Based Weight Loss Program in a North Carolina Healthcare System

Abstract

Current strategies for obesity management in primary care leave many patients inadequately treated. We aimed to evaluate a comprehensive primary care clinic-based weight management program’s clinical effectiveness in a community practice setting. This is an 18 month long pre-post intervention study. We collected and analyzed anthropometric data on the patients enrolled in the community-based weight loss program. All participants received targeted lifestyle counseling, and 78% received pharmacotherapy. The primary outcomes were percent weight loss post-intervention and proportion of patients who achieved a total body weight loss of 5% or greater. Our program served 550 patients over 1952 visits from March 2019 through October 2020. Patients attended an average of 3.5 visits (SD 2.7). A total of 209 patients received adequate exposure to the program (attended at least four visits) and achieved a mean total body weight loss of 5.7% (SD 5.8%, range − 22.8% − 13.7%). Of these patients, 53.1% lost > 5% of total weight. We demonstrate that a community-based weight management program delivered by obesity medicine-trained, primary care clinicians effectively produces clinically significant weight loss in a community setting. Our approach represents a promising, scalable model for expanding access to obesity treatment for the general population.