A pilot trial of spirituality counseling for weight loss maintenance in African American breast cancer survivors.
A continuing challenge in weight loss treatment is attaining maintenance of weight loss. The goal of this study was to develop a counseling method that would assist African American breast cancer survivors with weight loss maintenance. In this pilot study, 31 obese breast cancer survivors were recruited. Individualized, dietitian-led counseling by telephone and free Weight Watchers coupons were provided to all participants for 18 months. At the 6-month time point, women were randomized to receive spirituality counseling or not in addition to the standard program. The spirituality counseling was delivered via telephone using an 8-step framework. Subjects were asked to utilize daily meditation or prayer, daily readings, and the recording of thoughts in a journal. Mean weight loss from baseline to 6 months was a modest 2.0% of baseline weight. From 6 to 18 months, there was no further weight change in the spirituality arm and a gain of 0.7% in the dietitian-only arm. Despite little effect on weight loss, it did appear that spirituality counseling positively affected spiritual well-being (FACIT-Sp) scores and dietary quality. The spirituality counseling framework therefore may be further refined and useful for other health promotion studies with African American populations.
Djuric
Zora
Z
Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-5930, USA. zoralong@umich.edu
Mirasolo
Josephine
J
Kimbrough
LaVern
L
Brown
Diane R
DR
Heilbrun
Lance K
LK
Canar
Lisa
L
Venkatranamamoorthy
Raghu
R
Simon
Michael S
MS
D001741:Black or African American; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D015930:Diet Records; D037001:Directive Counseling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017741:Survivors; D014481:United States; D015431:Weight Loss