[Effectiveness of lifestyle intervention program in persons with obesity treated in a day hospital]

Obesity is a chronic disease that affects approximately 25% of the Spanish population, causing high morbidity and associated healthcare costs.

To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program on lifestyles in obese patients treated in a day hospital scheme.

A prospective non- controlled intervention study was conducted on obese patients treated in the Endocrinology and Nutrition day hospital, Puerto Real University Hospital, and included in program of lifestyle modification to achieve a weight loss of ≥ 5% minimum.

We studied 262 patients with a mean age of 44.6±16.0 years (71% women) with an initial weight, body mass index and waist circumference of 110.4±21.1kg, 41.6±6.6Kg/m(2) and 120.5±13.2cm, respectively. Patients who continued in the study lost an average of 4.8±4.8kg (n=165) and 7.0±6.2kg (n=48) at three and six months, respectively, with 51.5% (n=135) patients reaching the weight loss goal of ≥ 5%. There were no statistically differences in weight loss between any clinical or follow-up variables analysed. 43.5% of patients voluntarily left the study without reaching the weight loss goal.

The intervention on lifestyles in obese patients treated in a day hospital achieves moderate weight loss in the medium term, with half of patients achieving a weight loss ≥5%.