Residential cognitive-behavioral weight-loss intervention for obesity with and without binge-eating disorder: A prospective case-control study with five-year follow-up

ABSTRACT Objective The aim of this prospective case–control study was to compare the long‐term effects of a residential cognitive‐behavioral treatment (CBT) for weight loss in severely obese patients with and without binge‐eating disorder (BED). Methods We assessed weight‐loss outcomes and psychological impairment in 54 severely obese female patients with BED and 54 patients matched by age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) without BED admitted to a residential CBT program. Body weight was measured at baseline and at 6‐month follow‐up and was reported by patients in a telephone interview at 5‐year follow‐up. Depression, eating disorder psychopathology, general psychopathology, and quality of life were assessed using validated instruments at baseline and at 6‐month follow‐up. Results Obese patients with and without BED had similar weight loss at 6‐month and 5‐year follow‐ups. Although both groups showed improved psychosocial variables, at 6 months the BED group maintained higher psychological impairment. Nevertheless, at 5‐year follow‐up more than half of the BED participants were no longer classifiable as having BED. Discussion The presence of BED does not affect weight‐loss outcome in obese patients treated with the residential CBT for weight loss program considered. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2016; 49:723–730)