title: Cost-effectiveness of group and mixed family-based treatment for childhood obesity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Family-based, behavioral treatment has been shown to be an effective intervention for the management of pediatric obesity. The goal of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of two protocols for the delivery of family-based behavioral treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one families with obese children were randomized to groups in which families were provided mixed treatment incorporating both group and individualized treatment vs group treatment only. Cost-effectiveness of treatment was defined as the magnitude of reduction in standardized BMI and percentage overweight per dollar spent for recruitment and treatment. Anthropometric data were assessed at baseline, 6 months and 12 months post-randomization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results for the 24 families with complete data showed the group intervention was significantly more cost-effective than the mixed treatment. This was due to the similarity between the two groups in Z-BMI or percentage overweight change for children and their parents, while the mixed treatment was significantly more expensive to deliver than the group treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that a family-based, behavioral intervention employing group treatment alone is a more cost-effective approach to treating pediatric obesity than a mixed group plus individual format.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Research, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Goldfield
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Kilanowski
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Paluch
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kogut-Bossler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000191:economics*; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000191:economics; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss