To determine the effectiveness of continuous patient contact on weight loss maintenance.

BACKGROUND:

Overweight/obesity is the second leading cause of death in the US, and is growing in prevalence at an alarming rate. Control of overweight/obesity is increasingly recognized as a high national priority because of its contribution to cardiovascular (CVD) risk factors and ultimately to CVD itself. The short-term success of behavioral interventions for weight loss has been repeatedly documented. Unfortunately, because weight re-gain is extremely common, a disappointingly, small proportion of individuals achieve long-term weight control. Of the factors that are associated with sustained weight loss, one of the most important is continued intervention with frequent contacts.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

The study is a multi-center, randomized, controlled trial [Weight Loss Maintenance Trial (MAINTENANCE)] to determine the effects of two innovative behavioral interventions, each designed to maintain frequent contacts, compared to a usual care control group. Overweight and obese individuals (60% women, 40% African Americans) who are taking medication for hypertension, dyslipidemia and/or type 2 diabetes will enter a 6-month, weight loss program. Those 800 individuals who lose at least 4 kg (approximately 9 pounds) will then be randomized into one of three groups: a Personal Contact (PC) Intervention that provides monthly personal contacts with a trained interventionist, primarily via telephone; an Interactive Technology (IT) Intervention that provides frequent contacts through a state-of-the-art interactive web-based program supplemented by other communication technologies; or Usual Care (UC). The primary outcome will be weight change from the end of the initial weight loss program to the end of the 30-month weight maintenance intervention period. Other outcomes will include weight change in subgroups, prevalence of CVD risk factors, measures of behavior change, and cost of implementation. For each outcome, the Personal Contact and Interactive Technology interventions will be compared to Usual Care and, if different from Usual Care, to each other. To successfully combat the obesity epidemic, clinicians and health care systems must have options that are effective and feasible and that can be provided to large numbers of individuals.

Phase II intervention completed: July 2007

• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Heart Diseases
• Obesity
• Diabetes Mellitus, Non-Insulin Dependent
• Hypertension

• Behavioral: Personal Contact
• Device: Interactive Web-based technology

• Svetkey LP, Stevens VJ, Brantley PJ, Appel LJ, Hollis JF, Loria CM, Vollmer WM, Gullion CM, Funk K, Smith P, Samuel-Hodge C, Myers V, Lien LF, Laferriere D, Kennedy B, Jerome GJ, Heinith F, Harsha DW, Evans P, Erlinger TP, Dalcin AT, Coughlin J, Charleston J, Champagne CM, Bauck A, Ard JD, Aicher K; Weight Loss Maintenance Collaborative Research Group. Comparison of strategies for sustaining weight loss: the weight loss maintenance randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2008 Mar 12;299(10):1139-48.
• Stevens VJ, Funk KL, Brantley PJ, Erlinger TP, Myers VH, Champagne CM, Bauck A, Samuel-Hodge CD, Hollis JF. Design and implementation of an interactive website to support long-term maintenance of weight loss. J Med Internet Res. 2008 Jan 25;10(1):e1.

Overweight men and women who took medication for hypertension, type 2 diabetes and/or hyperlipidemia in the six month weight loss phase. and who were able to lose approximately 9 pounds. There will be approximately 60% women and 40% African Americans.