Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has efficacy for binge eating disorder (BED) but not obesity. No controlled studies have tested whether adding obesity medication to CBT facilitates weight loss. We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled study of orlistat administered with guided self-help CBT (CBTgsh).
Methods: Fifty obese BED patients were randomly assigned to 12-week treatments of either orlistat plus CBTgsh (120 mg three times a day [t.i.d.]) or placebo plus CBTgsh and were followed in double-blind fashion for 3 months after treatment.
Results: Seventy-eight percent of patients completed treatments without differential dropout between orlistat+CBTgsh and placebo+CBTgsh. Intent-to-treat remission rates (zero binges for past 28 days on Eating Disorder Examination Interview) were significantly higher for orlistat+CBTgsh than placebo+CBTgsh (64% versus 36%) at posttreatment but not at 3-month follow-up (52% in both). Intent-to-treat rates for achieving 5% weight loss were significantly higher for orlistat+CBTgsh than placebo+CBTgsh at posttreatment (36% versus 8%) and 3-month follow-up (32% versus 8%). Significant and comparable improvements in eating disorder psychopathology and psychological distress occurred in both treatments.
Conclusions: The addition of orlistat to CBTgsh was associated with greater weight loss than the addition of placebo to CBTgsh. Clinical improvements were generally maintained at 3-month follow-up after treatment discontinuation.