Elsevier

Fertility and Sterility

Volume 106, Issue 5, October 2016, Pages 1212-1220
Fertility and Sterility

Original article
Feasibility of a brief, intensive weight loss intervention to improve reproductive outcomes in obese, subfertile women: a pilot study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.06.004Get rights and content
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Objective

To evaluate the feasibility of a brief, intensive weight loss intervention (IWL) to improve reproductive outcomes in obese subfertile women.

Design

Pilot study of IWL versus standard-of-care nutrition counseling (SCN).

Setting

Single-site, academic institution.

Patient(s)

Obese women (body mass index, 35–45 kg/m2) with anovulatory subfertility.

Intervention(s)

Women were rigorously prescreened to rule out secondary causes of subfertility. Eligible women were randomized to IWL or SCN. IWL consisted of 12 weeks of very-low-energy diet (800 kcal/day) + 4 weeks of a low-calorie conventional food-based diet (CFD) to promote 15% weight loss. SCN consisted of 16 weeks of CFD to promote ≥5% weight loss. Women were transitioned to weight maintenance diets and referred back to reproductive endocrinology for ovulation induction.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Feasibility of recruitment, randomization, intervention implementation, and retention.

Result(s)

Thirty-nine women were screened; 25 (64%) were eligible to participate, and 14 of those eligible (56%) agreed to be randomized, seven in each group. One withdrew from the IWL group and two from the SCN group. Percent weight loss was greater in the IWL group than in the SCN group (13% ± 5% vs. 4% ± 4%). Three of six women in the IWL group conceived and delivered term pregnancies. No pregnancies occurred in the SCN group.

Conclusion(s)

After rigorous screening, 44% of eligible women completed the study. IWL was associated with greater percentage weight loss and improvements in insulin sensitivity.

Clinical Trial Registration

NCT01894074.

Key Words

Obesity
weight loss
anovulatory
intensive dietary intervention

Cited by (0)

A.R. reports nonfinancial support from Nestle during the conduct of the study. M.L. has nothing to disclose. J.R. has nothing to disclose. C.F. has nothing to disclose. N.M. has nothing to disclose. Y.S. has nothing to disclose.

Supported by a grant from the Michigan Institute for Clinical Research (grant U040012 PI to A.R.); the core services of the Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center (grant DK089503); and the Michigan Center for Diabetes Research (grant P30DK020572).

Meal replacement product provided by Nestle. The Weight Management Program has received nonfinancial support from Optifast (Nestle).