According to a new research published in the Patient Education and Counseling journal, the key to succeed in weight loss is physician support. The findings revealed that the overweight people trying to lose weight are twice as successful when they feel that they had most help from doctors compared to those who did not feel the same.
As reported by Eureka Alert, 347 obese people took part in a two-year study founded by a U.S. government weight loss program. At the end they they were asked to fill our surveys evaluating their relationships with their respective physicians.
For example, the questionnaire asked how often their health care providers showed respect and listened carefully, explained things clearly, as well as how helpful their doctors involvement was in the trial.
Of the 347 patients who filled out surveys forthy percent were African-American and sixty-three percent were female. All of them were having an average body mass indices of 36.3, which placed them in the obese category. In each of the subjects was encountered one of three cardiovascular disease risk factors: diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Primary Care Physician and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Assistant Professor Wendy L. Bennett, MD, MPH, defines high-quality, patient-doctor relationships those that are marked by collaboration, respect, good communication, empathy and trust. According to her, these type of relathionships between patients and health care providers are linked to better appointment keeping, adherence to medication schedules and other good outcomes.
The research evidenced that high-quality relationships with their doctors helped patients to lose more weight. Bennett and her colleagues analyzed information gathered by the trial study at Johns Hopkins' Practice-based Opportunities for Weight Reduction (POWER).
After the survey, almost all of the 347 subjects reported high-quality relationships with their doctors. However, for weight loss purposes the overall relationship had a low impact. The analysis of the survey found that patients who gave their physicians the highest ratings on "helpfulness" lost an average of 11 pounds, while those who rated their physicians the lowest "helpfulness" ratings, losing just around 5 pounds.
"This trial supports other evidence that providers are very important in their patients' weight loss efforts," According to Bennett, as reported by Rapid News Network, the trial supports previous evidence that helath care providers play an important role in their patients' weight loss efforts.
