Weight-loss programs in convenient care clinics: a prospective cohort study

Purpose. Assess whether a convenient care clinic (CCC) medical weight-loss program can promote weight loss. Design. Prospective cohort study with follow-up at 10 weeks. Setting. A CCC (Lindora Health Clinic) weight-loss program (Lean for Life) based in a retail pharmacy (Rite Aid Pharmacy) in Costa Mesa, California. Subjects. The first 100 people to purchase the weight-loss program. Intervention. A 10-week, $465 medical weight-loss program with individual counseling sessions; a hypocaloric diet of 900 to 1200 kcal/day (25%–30% carbohydrates, 40% protein, 25% fat); and adjunctive pharmacologic treatment, if necessary. Measures. We collected data on age, height, weight, visits per week, medication use, comorbid conditions, and weight change. Analysis. Data were analyzed based on length of enrollment and mean percent weight loss. Statistical tests used were t-test and Spearman rank correlation test. Results. Eighty-six subjects had valid data entries for weight change over the 10-week period. Average age was 51.6 years; mean starting body mass index was 30.3. Thirty patients participated for 0 to 4 weeks, 30 for 4 to 9 weeks, and 26 for 10 weeks. Mean percent weight changes for the 0 to 4, 5 to 9, and 10-week groups were −1.6, −6.0, and −8.1, respectively. Forty-five (45%) of the patients achieved medically significant weight loss (≥ 5%). Conclusion. The study shows that a medical weight-loss program offered at a CCC in a retail pharmacy can produce medically significant weight loss of ≥5%. Further research of collaborations between the retail and medical weight-loss industries is warranted. Study design limitations included selection bias and confounding variables other than the weight-loss program.