title: Effectiveness of a psychosocial weight management program for individuals with schizophrenia.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a weight loss program for individuals with schizophrenia in usual care. The study included 146 adults with schizophrenia from two mental health clinics of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The 109 individuals who were overweight or obese were offered a 16-week, psychosocial, weight management program. Weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) were assessed at baseline, 1 year later, and at each treatment session. Only 51% of those who were overweight or obese chose to enroll in the weight management program. Participants attended an average of 6.7 treatment sessions, lost an average of 2.4 pounds, and had an average BMI decrease of 0.3. There was no significant change in weight or BMI compared to the control group. Intervention strategies that both improve utilization and yield greater weight loss need to be developed.
authors.affiliation: VA Desert Pacific MIRECC and University of California Los Angeles, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, USA, noosha.niv@va.gov.
authors.forename: Noosha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Niv
authors.forename: Amy N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reist
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D050177:Overweight / Q000628:therapy*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015431:Weight Loss; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs / Q000379:methods*