Low Goal Ownership Predicts Drop-out from a Weight Intervention Study in Overweight Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

BackgroundDrop-out is a major problem in weight loss studies. Although previous attrition research has examined some predictors of drop-out, theoretically grounded research on psychological predictors of drop-out from weight interventions has been lacking.PurposeTo examine psychological predictors of drop-out from a weight reduction study in diabetes type 2 patients.MethodA clinical trial was conducted with 101 overweight/obese (body mass index >27) diabetes type 2 patients. Patients were randomly assigned to a self-regulation intervention, an active control group, and a passive control group. Psychological, somatic, socio-demographic, and lifestyle variables were examined as predictors of drop-out from baseline to 6 months follow-up.ResultsMultiple logistic regression analysis indicated that low autonomous regulation or low ‘goal ownership’ was the best predictor of drop-out.ConclusionIt is suggested that the assessment of ‘goal ownership’ prior to a weight reduction intervention could identify patients who are sufficiently motivated to participate. Patients who score low on ‘goal ownership’ may be offered pretreatment interventions to increase their motivation.

Measuring and reporting attrition from obesity treatment programs: A call to action!

“…For example, studies using newspaper advertisements to recruit reported attrition rates from 18 to 54% [13,17,18,23] and those relying on medical professional referral reported attrition rates from 23 to 49% [11,24]. The few studies assessing readiness to change reported inconsistent results [12,[22][23][24][25]. Length of treatment did not appear to be related to attrition for example studies of 6-month [21,26] and 24-month [27,28] duration reported similar attrition rates.…”

“…For example, some studies have found gender to be non-significant in predicting drop-out [25,44], while others have found female gender [28,45] and male gender to be predictive of attrition [46]. Similarly, some studies have found BMI to be non-significant in predicting drop-out [47,48], while others have found lower BMI [49,50] or greater BMI [51,52] to be significant predictors of attrition.…”

“…Well-justified variables may prove more fruitful in predicting attrition [25]. A small number of studies have explored theoretically and empirically grounded variables.…”

“…A small number of studies have explored theoretically and empirically grounded variables. These include self-regulation [25], motivational interviewing [55], depressive symptoms [23,50] and weight loss expectations [23,56]. While preliminary research suggests that these variables might demonstrate more consistent relationships with attrition, to date, a reliable set of predictors has not been established on the basis of theoretical or empirical research [1].…”

Factores psicológicos y/o psiquiátricos presentes en pacientes desertores de protocolo de preparación para cirugía bariátrica

“…9 Aunque existe una gran variedad de tratamientos para lograr el objetivo de bajar de peso de manera significativa y duradera en los pacientes con obesidad severa, las tasas de abandono de las mismas se encuentran entre el 40% y 80%. 10,11 El abandono o deserción en el tratamiento contribuye a mantener e incrementar los riesgos de aparición de enfermedades crónico-degenerativas asociadas a la obesidad 12 y de las patologías psicológicas y psiquiátricas. Se ha encontrado en la literatura médica que los pacientes con obesidad que desertan del tratamiento podrían tener algunos factores psicológicos y/o psiquiátricos que los caracterizan.…”