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Older age does not influence the success of weight loss through the implementation of lifestyle modification
Author(s) -
Leyden Eimear,
Hanson Petra,
Halder Louise,
Rout Lucy,
Cherry Ishbel,
Shuttlewood Emma,
Poole Donna,
Loveder Mark,
Abraham Jenny,
Kyrou Ioannis,
Randeva Harpal S.,
Lam FT,
Me Vinod,
Barber Thomas M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
clinical endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1365-2265
pISSN - 0300-0664
DOI - 10.1111/cen.14354
Subject(s) - medicine , weight loss , referral , psychological intervention , obesity , body mass index , cohort , retrospective cohort study , overweight , age groups , gerontology , pediatrics , demography , family medicine , psychiatry , sociology
Objective Age is sometimes a barrier for acceptance of patients into a hospital‐based obesity service. Our aim was to explore the effect of age on the ability to lose weight through lifestyle interventions, implemented within a hospital‐based obesity service. Design Retrospective study. Patients We included a cohort of randomly selected patients with morbid obesity ( n = 242), who attended our hospital‐based obesity service during 2005‐2016 and received only lifestyle weight loss interventions. Measurements Primary outcome measures were percentage weight loss (%WL) and percentage reduction in body mass index (%rBMI) following implemented lifestyle interventions. Data were stratified according to patient age at referral: group 1 (age < 60 years, n = 167) and group 2 (age ≥ 60 years, n = 75). Weight loss was compared between groups, and correlations with age at referral were explored. Results The duration of hospital‐based weight loss interventions ranged between 1 and 143 months (mean: 38.9 months; SD: 32.3). Baseline BMI at referral differed significantly between groups 1 and 2 (49.7 kgm −2 [SD: 8.7] vs 46.9 kgm −2 [SD: 6.1], respectively; P < .05). Following implemented lifestyle interventions, between groups 1 and 2 there were no differences in %WL (6.9% [SD: 16.7] vs 7.3% [SD: 11.60], respectively; P = NS) or %rBMI (8.1% [SD: 14.9] vs 7.8% [SD: 11.7], respectively; p = NS). Overall, there was no significant correlation between patient age at referral and %WL (r = −.13, p = NS). Conclusions Older age does not influence the success of weight loss through the implementation of lifestyle modification within a hospital‐based obesity service. Therefore, age per se should not influence clinical decisions regarding acceptance of patients to hospital‐based obesity services.