Effects of self-conditioning techniques in promoting weight loss in patients with severe obesity: a randomized controlled trial protocol

Background: Obesity is a worldwide epidemic; most obese individuals who lose weight after lifestyle educative treatments, soon regain it. Our aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of a training to teach self-conditioning technique (self-hypnosis) added to standard care in determining weight loss compared with standard care in patients with obesityMethods: This randomized controlled open trial will recruit 120 obese patients (BMI 35-50 Kg/m2), aged 20-70 years. The control group will receive a traditional approach: diet + exercise + behavioral recommendations. The experimental group will receive self-conditioning techniques + traditional approach.Three individual sessions of hypnosis with rapid-induction techniques will be administered by trained personnel. All the participants of both groups will be assessed at three, six, nine and twelve months after randomization. The primary outcome is weight loss difference between groups at 12 months after randomization; secondary outcomes are changes in adherence to dietetic and exercise recommendations, appetite and satisfaction/well-being, waist circumference and body fat, blood pressure and blood metabolic and inflammatory variables.Conclusions: The results of this trial will assess whether a self-conditioning approach, based on self-hypnosis, is able to help participants to modulate unhealthy patterns of eating and sustain weight loss in the long term.