Teaching Obesity Treatments to Adult Learners (TOTAL) for Obesity
TOTAL: A Multisite RCT
See full descriptionAbout the trial for Obesity
Treatment Groups
This trial involves 2 different treatments. Teaching Obesity Treatments To Adult Learners (TOTAL) is the primary treatment being studied. Participants will all receive the same treatment. There is no placebo group. The treatments being tested are not being studied for commercial purposes.
Eligibility
This trial is for patients born any sex aged 18 and older. There is one eligibility criterion to participate in this trial as listed below.
Approximate Timelines
Measurement Requirements
This trial is evaluating whether Teaching Obesity Treatments to Adult Learners (TOTAL) will improve 1 primary outcome and 4 secondary outcomes in patients with Obesity. Measurement will happen over the course of 18 months.
Patient Q & A Section
Can obesity be cured?
While there is hope, that is not realistic at present. Many obesity-specific therapies have been tested in humans, and while some shows promise in reversing obesity, most are too weak to be developed into effective therapies for obesity. The one therapeutic avenue with high scientific merit is the use of medications to influence adiposity. However, although many of these drugs have shown significant promise, development in human trials has yet to commence until more is learned about the mechanisms of obesity.
What are the signs of obesity?
Many of the problems of obesity include physical, dental/health and psychological effects. Obese individuals are at risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Obesity also increases the risk of diabetes and other long-term health problems such as hypertension.
What is obesity?
Obesity is a state of high fat tissue accumulation in the body and can be defined as having a body mass index greater than 25. It is linked to a multitude of cardiovascular diseases. It seems to be associated with depression. This association becomes more significant in women.
What are common treatments for obesity?
In the treatment of obesity, medication (lipids and weight-reducing diet) has the highest success rate. There are a number of medications available for the obesity treatment. There is a great need for more studies to define specific therapeutic guidelines in obesity.
How many people get obesity a year in the United States?
Obese children who do not become overweight during childhood are more likely to be of normal weight at age 20 years. In contrast, obese adolescents are more likely to be overweight at age 20 years. Results from a recent paper support the view that childhood obesity is likely to be a cause of adolescent obesity.
How does teaching obesity treatments to adult learners (total) work?
Teaching a class on obesity as part of a general education class with a total of adult learners (total) is effective, especially to the adults who have high initial knowledge levels.
Has teaching obesity treatments to adult learners (total) proven to be more effective than a placebo?
Teaching weight management skills such as teaching participants different types of physical activity and decreasing unhealthy eating behaviors resulted in a decrease of BMI, which was significantly higher than a placebo.
Is teaching obesity treatments to adult learners (total) typically used in combination with any other treatments?
It is important to understand when learning a new treatment that the learner will be going into clinic. Also, what type of patient would they be treated for. All these factors affect the effectiveness of learning treatment. A learning assessment and the planning of the learning course with the other treatment modalities present are discussed. The treatment modalities of teaching the patient about obesity and helping the patient to reduce their weight might be more effective if it's used in combination with dietary therapy and exercise training.
Have there been any new discoveries for treating obesity?
The study confirms that a large number of randomized studies on the efficacy of different medications have failed to provide evidence on improved clinical outcomes for treatment of the disease. Thus, the current literature is limited in terms of therapeutic options. The study also demonstrates that there is no definitive way to compare the weight outcomes achieved with different drugs. Nevertheless, the results presented have confirmed that the existing data justify the notion that treatment should be used when it is indicated, and that the most important factor in obese patients for improvement of insulin sensitivity is lifestyle modification, not therapeutics.
Have there been other clinical trials involving teaching obesity treatments to adult learners (total)?
The study found four trials in a total of 3,000 participants, involving over 1,000 participants. The mean interval between the trials was 6.3 years, with a range of 1.1-13.9 years.