title: Minimal intervention programs for weight loss in heart transplant candidates: a preliminary examination.
abstract: Overweight can be a contraindication for cardiac transplantation, and empirical findings suggest that obesity may pose serious posttransplant health risks that can increase morbidity and mortality.
  
  
  
  This study assessed the relative effectiveness of 2 minimal intervention programs to assist weight loss in heart transplant candidates.
  
  
  
  A randomized trial was employed to assess changes in body weight.
  
  
  
  A large, tertiary care hospital in a Southern locale.
  
  
  
  Forty-three heart transplant candidates (74% men, 79% married, 86% white), with a mean pretreatment body mass index of 32.4 (SD = 4.4).
  
  
  
  Patients were randomly assigned to a bibliotherapy weight-loss program or a bibliotherapy plus telephone contact weight-loss program.
  
  
  
  Change in body weight over 3 months and return rate of measures of program adherence (3-day food diaries and self-monitoring postcards).
  
  
  
  An intent-to-treat analysis showed a significant weight loss at posttreatment for the sample as a whole. Within-group analyses indicated that a significant weight change (P < .05) in the telephone contact group (mean [SD] = -2.76 [4.96] kg) but not the bibliotherapy-only group (mean [SD] = -1.02 [2.97] kg). Participants in the telephone contact group returned more 3-day food diaries and self-monitoring postcards, with pounds lost significantly correlated with the number of completed self-monitoring postcards. These findings suggest that a minimal intervention program involving information plus limited professional contact may represent a viable approach to assisting overweight transplant candidates in weight management.
authors.affiliation: Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Tricia L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rodrigue
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001638:Bibliotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*