SynthesisBMC medical research methodology2012
Weight change in control group participants in behavioural weight loss interventions: a systematic review and meta-regression study.
Synthesis in BMC medical research methodology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- A series of N-of-1 dietary intervention studies with whole-grain foods and nuts reveals individual predictors of blood pressure and heart rate.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
- The "Eat Less Meat" one-month challenge: a randomized controlled trial of a meat reduction pledge intervention among French university students.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- An Evaluation of a Personalized Multicomponent Commercial Digital Weight Management Program: Single-Arm Behavioral Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Long-term Effectiveness of a Smartphone App Combined With a Smart Band on Weight Loss, Physical Activity, and Caloric Intake in a Population With Overweight and Obesity (Evident 3 Study): Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Efficacy of a Multi-component m-Health Weight-loss Intervention in Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Phase II prospective randomized trial of weight loss prior to radical prostatectomy.Prostate cancer and prostatic diseases · 2018Trial
- Effectiveness of Nutrition Intervention in a Selected Group of Overweight and Obese African-American Preschoolers.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2018Trial
- Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the 'HEYMAN' healthy lifestyle program for young men: a pilot randomised controlled trial.Nutrition journal · 2017Trial
- Frequent Self-Weighing with Electronic Graphic Feedback to Prevent Age-Related Weight Gain in Young Adults.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2015Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Benefits of Participation in Clinical Trials: An Umbrella Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Association between weight loss, change in physical activity, and change in quality of life following a corporately sponsored, online weight loss program.BMC public health · 2022Article
- A Retrospective Analysis of Employee Education Level on Weight Loss Following Participation in an Online, Corporately Sponsored, Weight Loss Program.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2020Article
- Examination of a partial dietary self-monitoring approach for behavioral weight management.Obesity science & practice · 2020Article
- Weight loss moderately affects the mixed meal challenge response of the plasma metabolome and transcriptome of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in abdominally obese subjects.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2018Article
- Everything should be as simple as possible, but no simpler: towards a protocol for accumulating evidence regarding the active content of health behaviour change interventions.Health psychology review · 2015Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnanticipated control group improvements have been observed in intervention trials targeting various health behaviours. This phenomenon has not been studied in the context of behavioural weight loss intervention trials. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-regression of behavioural weight loss interventions to quantify control group weight change, and relate the size of this effect to specific trial and sample characteristics.
methodsDatabase searches identified reports of intervention trials meeting the inclusion criteria. Data on control group weight change and possible explanatory factors were abstracted and analysed descriptively and quantitatively.
results85 trials were reviewed and 72 were included in the meta-regression. While there was no change in control group weight, control groups receiving usual care lost 1 kg more than control groups that received no intervention, beyond measurement.
conclusionsThere are several possible explanations why control group changes occur in intervention trials targeting other behaviours, but not for weight loss. Control group participation may prevent weight gain, although more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.