The Population Cost‐Effectiveness of Weight Watchers with General Practitioner Referral Compared with Standard Care

Lymer, Sharyn; Schofield, Deborah; Cunich, Michelle; Lee, Crystal; Fuller, Nicholas R.; Caterson, Ian D.; Colagiuri, Stephen

doi:10.1002/oby.22216

Cited by 6 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Also, Weight Watchers had a simpler administrative structure — mailed vouchers and single point of contact — than Curves Complete, which required invoiced payment for classes, communication with multiple local franchises, and collaboration with the national organization. These results are supported by similar studies that used different designs and populations (19,20). Study results may be of value to any public health organization that partners with multiple evidence-based weight loss interventions, especially Weight Watchers or Curves Complete.…”

Section: Implications For Public Healthsupporting

confidence: 79%

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Cost Effectiveness of Two Lifestyle Interventions in the Vermont WISEWOMAN Program

et al. 2019

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Introduction Low-income women are disproportionately overweight or obese. The Vermont WISEWOMAN (Well Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation) program, which serves Vermont women whose annual income is less than 250% of the federal poverty level, pays for members to attend 1 of 2 different evidence-based weight loss programs, Weight Watchers or Curves Complete. Purpose and Objectives We evaluated cost effectiveness of the weight-loss programs, conducted from April 2014 through March 2016, to determine which represented the best investment of WISEWOMAN program funds. Intervention Approach Vermont WISEWOMAN members who were overweight or obese during screening and who identified weight loss as a goal were invited to participate in 1 of the 2 programs on the basis of their place of residence and local Weight Watchers or Curves Complete contractual agreements with the Vermont WISEWOMAN program. Evaluation Methods Program costs and benefits were collected for a 2-year period and used to calculate the cost per participant who completed the program and the cost per participant who achieved the weight reduction goal of a 5% or more loss in body weight. Results The cost per participant achieving the weight reduction goal with Curves Complete ($8,613) was approximately 5 times the cost for Weight Watchers ($1,610). Implications for Public Health Weight Watchers, the evidence-based program with the simplest administrative structure, was significantly more cost effective than Curves Complete. Results suggest that overweight or obese low-income women aged 30 to 64 can lose 5% or more of their body weight more cost effectively through Weight Watchers than through Curves Complete.

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Section: Implications For Public Healthsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Beyond these findings, little economic data are available on the value of these interventions for low-income women. Weight Watchers has been found to be more cost effective than other weight loss supports with different population types (19,20).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cost Effectiveness of Two Lifestyle Interventions in the Vermont WISEWOMAN Program

et al. 2019

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“…Lymer 53 Participant's weight increased by 3% annually from their lowest weight to their preintervention weight.…”

Section: Cobiac 55mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conscious restriction of dietary intake to manage weight 75 Ahern, 45 Forster, 43 Fuller, 48 Lymer 53 Ginsberg 56…”

Section: Dietary Restraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Methods to Predict Weight Trajectories in Health Economic Models of Behavioral Weight-Management Programs: The Potential Role of Psychosocial Factors

et al. 2019

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Objectives. There is limited evidence on the long-term effectiveness of behavioral weight-management interventions, and thus, when conducting health economic modeling, assumptions are made about weight trajectories. The aims of this review were to examine these assumptions made about weight trajectories, the evidence sources used to justify them, and the impact of assumptions on estimated cost-effectiveness. Given the evidence that some psychosocial variables are associated with weight-loss trajectories, we also aimed to examine the extent to which psychosocial variables have been used to estimate weight trajectories and whether psychosocial variables were measured within cited evidence sources. Methods. A search of databases (Medline, PubMed, Cochrane, NHS Economic Evaluation, Embase, PSYCinfo, CINAHL, EconLit) was conducted using keywords related to overweight, weight-management, and economic evaluation. Economic evaluations of weight-management interventions that included modeling beyond trial data were included. Results. Within the 38 eligible articles, 6 types of assumptions were reported (weight loss maintained, weight loss regained immediately, linear weight regain, subgroup-specific trajectories, exponential decay of effect, maintenance followed by regain). Fifteen articles cited at least 1 evidence source to support the assumption reported. The assumption used affected the assessment of cost-effectiveness in 9 of the 19 studies that tested this in sensitivity analyses. None of the articles reported using psychosocial factors to estimate weight trajectories. However, psychosocial factors were measured in evidence sources cited by 11 health economic models. Conclusions. Given the range of weight trajectories reported and the potential impact on funding decisions, further research is warranted to investigate how psychosocial variables measured in trials can be used within health economic models to simulate heterogeneous weight trajectories and potentially improve the accuracy of cost-effectiveness estimates.

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“…The microsimulation study by Lymer et al in this issue of Obesity reports that a basic form of clinical‐community integration can be cost‐effective across a national population (). Using data from a prior randomized controlled trial, in which primary care provider screening and referral to community‐based Weight Watchers (WW) programs in three countries were compared with standard care (brief primary‐care weight management advice) (), Lymer et al extrapolated the results to the whole of the Australian adult population with BMI >27 kg/m 2 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Finding Adequate Scale for Obesity Care

Kahan

Kyle²

2018

Obesity

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The Population Cost‐Effectiveness of Weight Watchers with General Practitioner Referral Compared with Standard Care

Abstract: The WW intervention represents good value for money. The WW intervention needs serious consideration in a national package of obesity health services.

Cited by 6 publications

References 28 publications

Cost Effectiveness of Two Lifestyle Interventions in the Vermont WISEWOMAN Program

Cost Effectiveness of Two Lifestyle Interventions in the Vermont WISEWOMAN Program

A Systematic Review of Methods to Predict Weight Trajectories in Health Economic Models of Behavioral Weight-Management Programs: The Potential Role of Psychosocial Factors

Finding Adequate Scale for Obesity Care

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