Vakil Rachit M, Chaudhry Zoobia W, Doshi Ruchi S, Clark Jeanne M, Gudzune Kimberly A
Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2017 Nov;25(11):1885-1893. doi: 10.1002/oby.21959. Epub 2017 Sep 2.
To characterize weight-loss claims and disclaimers present on websites for commercial weight-loss programs and compare them with results from published randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
A content analysis of all home pages and testimonials available on the websites of 24 randomly selected programs was performed. Two team members independently reviewed each page and abstracted information from text and images to capture relevant content, including demographics, weight loss, and disclaimers. A systematic review was performed to evaluate the efficacy of these programs by searching MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the mean weight change from each RCT included was abstracted.
Overall, the amount of weight loss portrayed in the testimonials was extreme across all programs examined (range median weight loss 10.7-49.5 kg). Only 10 out of the 24 programs had eligible RCTs. Median weight losses reported in testimonials exceeded that achieved by trial participants. Most programs with RCTs (78%) provided disclaimers stating that the testimonial's results were nontypical and/or gave a range of typical weight loss.
Weight-loss claims within testimonials were higher than results from RCTs. Future studies should examine whether commercial programs' advertising practices influence patients' expectations or satisfaction with modest weight-loss results.
描述商业减肥项目网站上的减肥宣称及免责声明，并将其与已发表的随机对照试验（RCT）结果进行比较。
对随机选取的24个项目网站上的所有主页和推荐内容进行了内容分析。两名团队成员独立审查每个页面，并从文本和图像中提取信息以获取相关内容，包括人口统计学信息、体重减轻情况和免责声明。通过检索MEDLINE和Cochrane系统评价数据库，对这些项目的疗效进行了系统评价，并提取了纳入的每个RCT的平均体重变化。
总体而言，在所审查的所有项目中，推荐内容中所描述的体重减轻量都非常大（中位数体重减轻范围为10.7 - 49.5千克）。24个项目中只有10个有符合条件的RCT。推荐内容中报告的中位数体重减轻超过了试验参与者所达到的水平。大多数有RCT的项目（78%）提供了免责声明，称推荐结果不具代表性和/或给出了典型体重减轻的范围。
推荐内容中的减肥宣称高于RCT的结果。未来的研究应考察商业项目的广告行为是否会影响患者对适度减肥效果的期望或满意度。
