Long‐term maintenance of weight loss in patients with severe mental illness through a behavioural treatment programme in the UK

OBJECTIVE: Obesity is common among people with severe mental illness (SMI). We report our experience from the first 4 years of The Cromwell House weight management clinic. METHOD: Ninety-three patients with SMI aged 43.7 +/- 1.2 years referred themselves to this clinic. The patients were seen in weekly group sessions that involved weight measurement, discussion and education. RESULTS: Mean baseline weight was 89.5 +/- 1.8 kg [body mass index (BMI) 32.3 +/- 0.5 kg/m(2)]. Twenty-three per cent dropped out within the first 8 weeks. There was progressive statistically significant reduction in mean weight and BMI throughout the duration of monitoring with no suggestion of a plateau. The mean final weight loss was 6.2 +/- 0.6 kg. Weight loss was correlated only with the number of sessions attended (r = 0.53, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Long-term weight management of obese and overweight patients with severe forms of mental illness was possible through the provision of simple lifestyle advice within the group setting.