Pediatric obesity is recognized as a worldwide epidemic. Treatment of this problem has proven difficult, but many promising interventions exist, including immersion treatment. The purpose of this study is to examine the potential influence of psychotropic medications on immersion treatment outcomes in a real-world treatment setting.
This study examines the prescription rates of psychotropic medications and treatment process and outcomes of 642 adolescents in ten different cognitive behavioral therapeutic immersion weight-loss camps in the United States and in the United Kingdom.
The US participants received psychotropic medications at drastically varying rates by geographical location and overall at almost ten times the rate of UK participants. Those taking psychotropic medications engaged in treatment and decreased percentage overweight at similar rates as their nonmedicated peers. The medication group reported higher initial and final rates of distress, but both groups improved their moods during camp and exhibited smaller differences in mood ratings by the end of camp.
Significantly higher prescription rates of psychotropic medication, especially evident comparing the United States to the United Kingdom, were unrelated to immersion obesity treatment process and outcomes for youth. Immersion treatment for obese adolescents appears effective regardless of psychotropic medication status of the participant. This finding supports the use of cognitive behavioral immersion treatments for adolescent obesity and leads to several possible conclusions and directions for future study.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
4%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
2
4%
Other
8
16%
Unknown
18
37%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 30 April 2018.
All research outputs
#16,053,755
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Childhood Obesity
#521
of 757 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#198,162
of 343,387 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Childhood Obesity
#10
of 13 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 757 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 12.1. This one is in the 26th percentile – i.e., 26% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 343,387 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 13 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 23rd percentile – i.e., 23% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
