Evaluating the role of weight loss in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: An audit of Osteoarthritis Healthy Weight For Life's database.

Background And Objectives: Obesity contributes to the onset and progression of osteoarthritis. This study assesses the influence of baseline body mass index (BMI) and baseline knee pain on improvements observed in patients undertaking a community-based weight loss program for knee osteoarthritis.

Method: This study is a retrospective analysis of data from 9004 patients who took part in the Osteoarthritis Healthy Weight For Life program between January 2014 and July 2022.

Loss of body weight is dose-dependently associated with reductions in symptoms of hip osteoarthritis.

Background/objectives: While weight loss is recommended for managing hip osteoarthritis (OA), most evidence comes from knee OA studies, limiting its applicability to hip OA. This study addresses this gap by examining the effects of weight loss on hip OA symptoms.

Design And Setting: A retrospective audit of routinely collected healthcare data from participants enrolled in the Osteoarthritis Healthy Weight for Life (OAHWFL) program, designed for individuals with knee or hip OA.

Beyond weight loss: Impact of a weight management programme for mid-older Australians in private health insurance.

Weight-loss maintenance and lifestyle behaviour necessary to manage weight are undisputedly challenging. We evaluated a secondary prevention weight-loss maintenance programme for participants (n = 490) with weight-related chronic disease in the Australian private health insurance setting. This study investigated the impact of the maintenance programme on anthropometric and lifestyle risk behaviour changes after 6 and 12 months, and trends in weight-loss maintenance after 1 year.

Sociodemographic and health risk profile associated with participation in a private health insurance weight loss maintenance and chronic disease management program.

Objective Identifying who participates in chronic disease management programs yields insights into program reach and appeal. This study investigated sustained participation in a remotely delivered weight loss maintenance program offered to Australian private health insurance members. Methods All participants completing an initial 18-week weight loss program were eligible for a maintenance phase.

"I'm Still on Track": A Qualitative Exploration of Participant Experiences of a Weight Loss Maintenance Program.

Qualitative evidence of participants' experiences of real-life weight loss maintenance programs is important for ongoing participant engagement and can inform program improvements. The purpose of this study was to understand how participants account for their engagement with a weight loss maintenance program and the role of the program in their weight management. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 17 participants of a weight loss maintenance program was conducted; common themes were identified using a thematic inductive approach.

Healthy Weight for Life programme: Evaluating the practice and effectiveness of a weight loss maintenance programme in the private health insurance setting.

Background: Australian private health insurers are increasingly involved in the delivery of chronic disease management programmes to their members, recognising the importance of decreasing and managing lifestyle risk factors and the impact such factors have on health service utilisation. One such secondary prevention programme is the Healthy Weight for Life programme, an intensive weight loss and lifestyle modification programme that has been designed for overweight and obese private health insurance members in Australia. Together with the insurer, the Healthy Weight for Life service provider developed and implemented a long-term maintenance programme that supports participants who complete the Healthy Weight for Life programme to maintain the weight loss they achieved during the programme.

Acceptability of financial incentives for maintenance of weight loss in mid-older adults: a mixed methods study.

Background: Health insurers worldwide implement financial incentive schemes to encourage health-related behaviours, including to facilitate weight loss. The maintenance of weight loss is a public health challenge, and as non-communicable diseases become more prevalent with increasing age, mid-older adults could benefit from programs which motivate weight loss maintenance. However, little is understood about their perceptions of using financial incentives to maintain weight loss.

Is There a Dose-Response Relationship Between Weight Loss and Symptom Improvement in Persons With Knee Osteoarthritis?

Objective: We examined the dose-response relationship between weight reduction and pain/functional improvement in persons with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) participating in a community-based weight loss program.

Methods: Consecutive participants with KOA and enrolled in the 18-week Osteoarthritis Healthy Weight for Life weight-loss program were selected. In this completer-type analysis, participants were assessed at baseline, 6 weeks, and 18 weeks for body weight and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) subscales.