Who will lose weight on sibutramine and orlistat?
Aim: To study the associations between weight loss with sibutramine and orlistat with psychological aspects that may interact with patients’ response to these drugs. Methods: A total of 478 obese patients with a mean body mass index of 42 +/- 12 kg/m(2) gave self-reported, retrospective data on different types of previous weight loss treatments (sibutramine and orlistat, and Weight Watchers used as a control condition) including the amount of weight lost with these treatments, eating behaviour (Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire) and personality (NEO Personality Inventory – Revised). Results: Greater weight loss with sibutramine was associated with lower levels of restrained eating and higher levels of ‘neuroticism’, in particular ‘anxiety’ and ‘depression’. Greater weight loss with orlistat was associated with aspects of the personality dimension ‘conscientiousness’ (e.g. ‘order’ and ‘deliberation’). Conclusion: Sibutramine may exert its greatest effect in patients whose eating is a
