One-Year Effectiveness of a 3-Week Balneotherapy Program for the Treatment of Overweight or Obesity

Abstract EN

To assess the one-year effectiveness on weight loss of a 3-week balneotherapy program (BT).

Method.

A Zelen double consent randomised controlled trial to compare one-year BMI loss between a 3-week BT program versus usual care (UC) for overweight or obese patients (BMI: 27–35 kg/m2), associated or not with a dietary motivational interview (DMI) during the follow-up, using a 2 × 2 factorial design.

Main analysis was a per protocol analysis comparing patients attending BT to patients managed by UC, matched on sex, overweight or obese status, DMI randomisation and a propensity score to attend BT or to be managed by UC.

Results.

From the 257 patients who completed the follow-up, 70 patients of each group could be matched.

Mean BMI loss was 1.91 kg/m2 [95%CI: 1.46; 2.35] for the BT patients and 0.20 kg/m2 [−0.24; 0.64] for the UC patients (P<0.001), corresponding to a significant BT benefit of 1.71 kg/m2 [1.08; 2.33].

There was no significant effect of DMI and no interaction with BT or UC.

No adverse reaction was observed for patients attending BT.

Conclusion.

A 3-week BT program provided a significant one-year benefit over the usual GP dietary advice for overweight and obese patients.