ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Evaluation of a Weight Management Program for Veterans
This diagram shows that 173,127 veterans had at least 1 primary care visit during the study period at a participating VA medical center in 4 Western states. Of these, 56,803 had missing or implausible data on height, weight, or body mass index (BMI); 31,327 had a BMI below target threshold; and 8,398 had a diagnosis or hospitalization contraindicating participation in a weight management program. That left 3,192 MOVE! participants and 73,407 nonparticipants for the cross-sectional analysis. Of the participants, 2,250 had no follow-up measure during the specified interval or an implausible measure. Of the nonparticipants, 53,920 had no follow-up measure during the specified interval or an implausible measure. The longitudinal analysis for 12-month changes included 942 participants and 19,487 nonparticipants.
Figure. Flow diagram of VA Northwest patients included in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the MOVE! Weight Management Program for Veterans. Visit had to be between October 1, 2005, or the patient’s facility’s initial MOVE! implementation date, whichever was later, and September 31, 2008. Participation was limited to patients aged 18 to 69. “Implausible” defined as <75 lb or >600 lb or an average weight loss or gain of >2 lb/wk and >50 lb overall, or >100 lb gain or loss, regardless of rate of change. “Contraindication” defined in Appendix. Numbers presented in the figure are for 12-month weight changes; numbers for 6-month weight changes were 951 participants and 17,139 nonparticipants. Abbreviation: BMI, body mass index.