Depressive symptom severity as a predictor of attendance in the HOME behavioral weight loss trial

We examined whether total depressive symptoms and symptom clusters predicted behavioral weight loss attendance among economically disadvantaged adults in a randomized controlled trial. 150 adults with obesity were randomized to 12 months of in-person, video conference, or enhanced usual care weight loss groups. We categorized percent session attendance in the intervention arms into three levels: no attendance, poorer attendance, and better attendance. Higher baseline Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) score was associated with a greater odds of being in the poorer versus better attendance group (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.02–3.69, p = .04). A similar relationship between PHQ-8 score and odds of being in the no attendance versus better attendance group was observed but was not statistically significant (OR = 1.63, 95% CI: 0.94–2.81, p = .08). Both cognitive/affective and somatic clusters contributed to the depressive symptoms-attendance relationships. Greater depressive symptoms at the start of a behavioral weight loss program may predict poorer subsequent session attendance. Screening for and addressing depression may improve intervention uptake. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02057952 •Higher baseline depressive symptom severity associated with poorer attendance.•Cognitive-affective and somatic clusters both contributed to these associations.•Greater baseline depressive symptoms may inhibit behavioral weight loss outcomes.