IMPORTANCE
In 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved intensive behavioral weight loss counseling (i.e., approximately 14, 10–15 minute, face-to-face sessions in 6 months) for obese beneficiaries in primary care settings, when delivered by physicians and other CMS-defined primary care practitioners (PCPs).
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a systematic review of behavioral counseling for overweight/obese patients recruited from primary care, as delivered by PCPs working alone or with trained interventionists (e.g., medical assistants, registered dietitians), or by trained interventionists working independently.
EVIDENCE REVIEW
We searched PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE for randomized controlled trials (January 1980–June 2014) which: recruited overweight/obese patients from primary care; provided behavioral counseling (i.e., diet, exercise, and behavior therapy) for ≥3 months, with ≥6 months post-randomization follow-up; included ≥15 participants/treatment group and objectively measured weights; and had a comparator, an intention-to-treat analysis, and attrition <30% at 1 year or <40% at longer follow-up.
FINDINGS
Review of 3,304 abstracts yielded 12 trials (with 3,893 total participants) that met inclusion/exclusion criteria and pre-specified quality ratings. No studies were found in which PCPs delivered counseling following CMS guidelines (14 sessions in 6 months). Mean 6-month weight changes (relative to baseline) in the intervention group ranged from −0.3 to −6.6 kg, with corresponding values of +0.9 to −2.0 kg in control group. Weight loss in both groups generally declined with longer follow-up (12–24 months). Interventions that prescribed both reduced energy intake (e.g., ≥500 kcal/day deficit) and increased physical activity (e.g., ≥150 minutes/week of walking), with traditional behavior therapy, generally produced larger weight loss than interventions without all three specific components. In the former trials, more treatment sessions, delivered in person or by phone by trained interventionists, were associated with greater mean weight loss and likelihood of losing ≥5% of baseline weight.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Intensive behavioral counseling can induce clinically meaningful weight loss, but there is little research on PCPs providing such care. The present findings suggest that a range of trained interventionists, who deliver counseling in person or by telephone, could be considered in treating overweight/obesity in patients encountered in primary care.