Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb 13:5:24.
doi: 10.1186/s40814-019-0405-x. eCollection 2019.

Pilot randomised controlled trial of Weight Watchers® referral with or without dietitian-led group support for weight loss in women treated for breast cancer: the BRIGHT (BReast cancer weIGHT loss) trial

Rumana S N Newlands  1 , Maria Ntessalen  1 , Julia Clark  2 , Shona Fielding  3 , Pat Hoddinott  4 , Steven D Heys  5   6 , Geraldine McNeill  7 , Leone C A Craig  7
Affiliations

Pilot randomised controlled trial of Weight Watchers® referral with or without dietitian-led group support for weight loss in women treated for breast cancer: the BRIGHT (BReast cancer weIGHT loss) trial

Rumana S N Newlands et al. Pilot Feasibility Stud. .

Abstract

Background: Being overweight or obese following breast cancer diagnosis can increase cancer recurrence and mortality, so effective interventions for weight loss in this group could enhance survival. A pilot randomised controlled trial was conducted to assess whether a weight loss programme comprising generic Weight Watchers® referral offered to women treated for breast cancer with or without additional breast cancer-tailored dietetic support is feasible and shows promise for improving weight and quality of life (QoL).

Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to 3 groups: Weight Watchers® referral (for 12 sessions of meetings and digital tools) plus 5 breast cancer-tailored dietitian-led group support sessions (WW Plus: n = 14), Weight Watchers® referral only (WW: n = 16) or control (Weight Watchers® referral after 3 months, n = 15). Feasibility was assessed based on retention rate, recruitment and randomisation process, meeting attendance, suitability of the setting and outcome measurement tools, unintended consequences, cost and observations of the dietetic sessions. Outcomes were measured at 0, 3 ('trial exit') and 12 months post intervention.

Results: The response rate to the invitation was 43% (140/327) of whom 58 were eligible and 45 (median age 61.0 years; body mass index 30.2 kg/m2) were randomised. Data from 38 (84%) and 30 (67%) participants were available at trial exit and 12 months respectively. Feasibility issues included slow recruitment process, lack of blinding throughout, weighing scales not measuring > 150 kg, lack of clear instructions for completing QoL questionnaire and workload and time pressures in delivering dietetic sessions. Participants had good attendance rate at group meetings and no serious unintended consequences were reported. WW Plus was most expensive to run. Mean (95% CI) weight change at trial exit was - 3.67 kg (- 5.67, - 2.07) in WW Plus, - 6.03 kg (- 7.61, - 4.44) in WW group and + 0.19 kg (- 1.45, + 1.83) in control group. About 40% of the WW Plus, 64% of the WW group and 56% of the control group lost ≥ 5% of their baseline weight by 12 months. All groups showed promise for improving QoL at trial exit but only the WW group maintained significant improvements from baseline at 12 months.

Conclusions: The trial procedures were feasible, with some modifications. This pilot trial indicates the benefits of providing free WW vouchers for weight loss maintenance and improving QoL but provided no evidence that including additional dietetic support would add any extra value. Further research with WW with long-term follow-up should be undertaken to assess weight loss sustainability and benefit on health outcomes in this patient group.

Trial registration: ISRCTN-29623418.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Feasibility; Group support; Pilot trial; Weight Watchers; Weight loss.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The protocol for the initial 3-month trial was approved by the North of Scotland Research Ethics Service (NoSRES) Committee in September 2013 (ref: 13/NS/0060). A protocol amendment (AM01-1) to extend the follow-up to 12 months was approved by NoSRES in March 2015.Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart showing recruitment and drop-outs at all stages of the pilot BRIGHT trial
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Stewart B, Wild C. World Cancer Report 2014. International Agency for Research on Cancer. France: World Health Organization; 2014. http://publications.iarc.fr/Non-Series-Publications/World-Cancer-Reports....
    1. World Cancer Research Fund: Breast Cancer. Can Breast Cancer be prevented? http://www.wcrf-uk.org/uk/preventing-cancer/cancer-types/reducing-your-r.... Assessed 5 June 2017.
    1. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, Parkin DM, Forman D, Bray F. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer. 2015;136(5):E359–E386. - PubMed
    1. Makari-Judson G, Braun B, Jerry DJ, Mertens WC. Weight gain following breast cancer diagnosis: implication and proposed mechanisms. World J Clin Oncol. 2014;5(3):272. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vance V, Mourtzakis M, McCargar L, Hanning R. Weight gain in breast cancer survivors: prevalence, pattern and health consequences. Obes Rev. 2011;12(4):282–294. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources