The impact of compliance on the effectiveness of the Medifast meal replacement program for weight loss in overweight and obese clients: A retrospective chart review of three Medifast Weight Control Centers (MWCC)

Objective A chart review was performed to evaluate the association between compliance and the effectiveness of the Medifast meal replacement plan (MD) on body weight from baseline to final visit (FV) for the years 2007–10. Methods Charts included adults aged 18–70 following the MD with a BMI ≥25 that signed a health information consent form. 453 charts were included. Compliance included attendance at weekly visits (WV), intake of meal replacements (MR) and supplements (ω‐3), food journals (FJ), and ketone testing (KT). Results 53% of clients attended a WV for their entire prescribed program. When clients attended, the average compliance for MR=70%, ω‐3=76%, FJ=53% and KT=96%. There is significant correlation between all the compliance factors with the strongest relationships between WV, MR, and FJ (p<0.01). Bivariate random effects (RE) regressions showed significant (p<0.05) inverse relationships between wt Δ and WV, MR, FJ and ω‐3. Multivariate RE analysis showed sustained significant (p<0.05) relationships between wt Δ and WV (β= −41.5), MR (β= −1.3) and KT (β= 2.9) (R 2 =0.22, Wald Chi 2 (df=3) 148, p<0.0001). Conclusion Taken together, these results reveal significant associations between several components of compliance and weight loss, but particularly highlight the importance of WV, a benefit of the MWCC model over non‐clinic based models. This research was funded by Medifast, Inc., Owings Mills, MD.