Stages of change of behavior in women on a multi-professional program for treatment of obesity.
Cheila Aparecida Bevilaqua, Sandra Marisa Pelloso, Sonia Silva Marcon
PMID 27737377WHAT IT FOUND
Women who completed a 16-week group program with nurse-led education had lower weight, body mass index, waist size and waist-hip ratio after the program.
Controls did not show reductions. It mixed exercise, diet advice and education, so one part cannot be credited.
Key findings
01After 16 weeks, the intervention group had significant reductions in weight, BMI, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio; the control group did not show significant reductions.
02Only 33 of the 51 randomly allocated women were evaluated at the end, with 13 in the intervention group and 20 in the control group.
03The intervention group showed positive changes in stages of readiness for behavioral change in four domains, which was not observed in the control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 33 of 51 allocated women were analyzed, and 12 intervention-group women were excluded. The control group was not checked for starting diet or physical activity during the study. The study took place in one small municipality, so participants may have known each other and contaminated groups. Frequent contact with health professionals may have influenced intervention-group results. The intervention combined physical exercise, nutritional guidance and health education, so no single component can be isolated. Results are for 16 weeks only and the small sample made generalization difficult.
Declared interests
This research was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Paraná, Edital Pesquisa para o SUS/2010, Protocol 19510. The paper does not report other conflict-of-interest declarations.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physical exercise alone caused the weight reductions. The intervention also included nutritional guidance and health education, with sporadic specialist input, and the study cannot separate their contributions. Do not generalize widely either: only 33 of 51 allocated women were analyzed, and the setting was one small municipality.