Abstract 211: Long-Term Participant Engagement in Weight Management Programs

Lifestyle interventions must be effective at engaging participants beyond the initial intervention period in order to be successful in reducing long-term cardiovascular risks. Unfortunately, there is a lack of evidence for improvement in long-term cardiovascular outcomes following participation in lifestyle interventions. Participant engagement has been shown to wane after the first 12 months of participation. This gradual reduction in engagement may be responsible for the limited evidence for an effect on long-term cardiovascular risk. The objective of this study is to assess patient, program and community characteristics associated with better participant engagement after 2 years in a weight management program. This is an observational study of 330,522 participants enrolled in MOVE! programs within the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) from 2008 to 2013. The MOVE! program is a nationwide weight management intervention integrated into primary care within the VHA and provided free to Veterans. Part...