Obesity (Silver Spring). 2025 Apr 3. doi: 10.1002/oby.24262. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Obesity management requires personalized approaches. Using data from the Aviitam platform in France, this study aimed to do the following: 1) explore psychological and behavioral patterns through clustering techniques; 2) validate the robustness of these clusters; and 3) assess their association with weight-loss outcomes in severe obesity under semaglutide treatment.
METHODS: Phase 1 included 989 adults with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 who completed validated questionnaires, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2). Phase 2 validated robustness in 492 individuals. Phase 3 applied clusters to 125 individuals with BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2 who were treated with semaglutide 2.4 mg/week at Montpellier University Hospital, assessing weight-loss trajectories over 12 months.
RESULTS: The following two clusters were identified: the Intuitive Eaters Group (IEG, n = 482); and the Emotionally Driven Eaters Group (EDEG, n = 507). The IEG exhibited lower emotional distress and higher intuitive eating scores. HADS and IES-2 distinguished clusters effectively (area under the curve, 0.95). Robustness was confirmed in Phase 2. In Phase 3, the IEG demonstrated a significantly more favorable weight-loss trajectory compared to the EDEG (p = 0.03).
CONCLUSIONS: Psychological and behavioral clusters identified through HADS and IES-2 are associated with weight loss under semaglutide treatment, suggesting the value of integrating psychological and behavioral profiling into obesity care.
PMID:40177856 | DOI:10.1002/oby.24262