Health Literacy Directed Weight Loss Intervention in Primary Care Clinics

Low income and low health literacy are associated with poorer health knowledge, health behaviors and poor health outcomes. The effectiveness of health literacy-directed weight loss treatment interventions in primary care clinics is lacking.

The aim of this study was to conduct a pragmatic cluster-randomized trial (PROmoting Successful Weight Loss in Primary CarE in Louisiana ([PROPEL]) to test the effectiveness of a 24-month, patient-centered, literacy-directed obesity treatment program delivered within primary care in an underserved population. This study reports the association between health literacy and program effectiveness, examining potential correlates of weight loss related to patient adherence to the program.

We randomly assigned 18 clinics to usual care (UC) or a health literacy-directed lifestyle intervention (HLI). The primary outcome was percent weight loss at 24 months.

Of 803 adult participants (84% women; 67% Black), 31% had limited health literacy. Patients in UC lost an average of 0.44%of their enrollment weight after 24 months. Those with adequate literacy lost 0.57% and those with limited literacy lost 0.30%, which was not significantly different. The HLI patient group lost an average of 4.9% of their enrollment weight. Those with adequate literacy lost 5.2% and those with limited literacy, 4.7%, which was not significantly different. The advantage of adequate health literacy was consistent across the 24-month study period, though not significant. Patients in the HLI group with adequate health literacy had greater percent weight loss by a margin of 0.50 ± 0.75 (p = .50), while the UC margin was 0.27 ± 0.84 (p = .74). The percent weight loss difference between HLI and UC groups was 4.6 ± 0.8 (p < .001) among patients with adequate health literacy and 4.4 ± 1.0 (p < .001) among patients with limited health literacy. The difference in percent weight loss between the HLI and UC groups was 0.2 ± 1.1 (p = .84) higher for adequate literacy patients.

A health literacy directed health coaching intervention in community clinics led to significant weight loss over 24 months but did not vary by level of patient health literacy. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2024;8(4):e204-e211.].