EVALUATING SUCCESS OF WEIGHT-LOSS PROGRAMS, WITH AN APPLICATION TO FLUOXETINE WEIGHT-REDUCTION CLINICAL-TRIAL DATA

We modified criteria for judging successful obesity treatment proposed by Atkinson(1) to provide objective criteria for successful benefit from weight reduction programs with respect to data from a clinical trial. The criteria include assessments of changes in both weight-related factors (e.g. excess weight, excess body fat) and obesity-related risk factors (e.g. hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipemia). To demonstrate the use of this methodology, we applied the criteria in an analysis of eight randomized, double-blind controlled trials comparing fluoxetine (n=522) with placebo (n=504) for weight loss. The results suggest these criteria can be useful for evaluating a treatment program or for comparing treatments from clinical trials.