Older age does not influence the success of weight loss through the implementation of lifestyle modification

Eimear Leyden, Petra Hanson, Louise Halder, Lucy Rout, Ishbel Cherry, Emma Shuttlewood, Donna Poole, Mark Loveder, Jenny Abraham, Ioannis Kyrou, Harpal S Randeva, F T Lam, Vinod Menon, Thomas M Barber

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objective: Age is sometimes a barrier for acceptance of patients into a hospital-based obesity service. Our aim was to explore the effect of age on the ability to lose weight through lifestyle interventions, implemented within a hospital-based obesity service. Design: Retrospective study. Patients: We included a cohort of randomly selected patients with morbid obesity (n = 242), who attended our hospital-based obesity service during 2005-2016 and received only lifestyle weight loss interventions. Measurements: Primary outcome measures were percentage weight loss (%WL) and percentage reduction in body mass index (%rBMI) following implemented lifestyle interventions. Data were stratified according to patient age at referral: group 1 (age < 60 years, n = 167) and group 2 (age ≥ 60 years, n = 75). Weight loss was compared between groups, and correlations with age at referral were explored. Results: The duration of hospital-based weight loss interventions ranged between 1 and 143 months (mean: 38.9 months; SD: 32.3). Baseline BMI at referral differed significantly between groups 1 and 2 (49.7 kgm −2 [SD: 8.7] vs 46.9 kgm −2 [SD: 6.1], respectively; P <.05). Following implemented lifestyle interventions, between groups 1 and 2 there were no differences in %WL (6.9% [SD: 16.7] vs 7.3% [SD: 11.60], respectively; P = NS) or %rBMI (8.1% [SD: 14.9] vs 7.8% [SD: 11.7], respectively; p = NS). Overall, there was no significant correlation between patient age at referral and %WL (r = −.13, p = NS). Conclusions: Older age does not influence the success of weight loss through the implementation of lifestyle modification within a hospital-based obesity service. Therefore, age per se should not influence clinical decisions regarding acceptance of patients to hospital-based obesity services.

Original languageEnglish
Article number14354
Pages (from-to)204-209
Number of pages6
JournalClinical Endocrinology
Volume94
Issue number2
Early online date22 Oct 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021

Bibliographical note

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.© 2020 The Authors. Clinical Endocrinology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Keywords

  • age
  • lifestyle
  • obesity
  • weight loss
  • Body Mass Index
  • Life Style
  • Obesity, Morbid
  • Weight Loss
  • Humans
  • Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Infant, Newborn

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