WEIGHT REDUCTION;

TO EVALUATE IN OBESE PATIENTS WITH ORLISTAT AS COMPARED TO PLACEBO USING BODY MASS INDEX IN AN OPD SETTINGS

Abstract

Objective: Obesity is a serious disease and a precursor to other morbidities
such as CVD and type 2 DM. Lifestyle modifications are recommended to control obesity along
with pharmacological and surgical interventions. In this study, we evaluate the beneficial effects
of orlistat in BMI reduction of obese patients in an OPD setup of Azad Jammu Kashmir. Study
Design: It is a quasi-experimental placebo controlled trial. Setting: Divisional Headquarters
Hospital Mirpur Azad Kashmir. Period: October 2013 to March 2014. Methods: 75 patients were
enrolled having BMI of more than 27 using BMI machine model 2012. 38 Patients were randomly
selected to receive orlistat 120 mg B.D for two months. 32 patients were given placebo and the
reduction in BMI between the two arms was analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: After two months
of study, significant reduction of 2.78 kg +/-1.718 kg in weight was observed in the study group.
The reduction in average BMI in study group was 1.867 with -5.21 % reduction in BMI vs control
group which had an average BMI reduction of 0.46 with -1.411% reduction in BMI. The p value is
0.001. 37.71% of patients taking orlistat reported side effects such as flatulence, fatty stools and
myalgia which were 8%, 18.91% and 10.8% respectively. Conclusions: Orlistat along with life
style modification is effective in BMI reduction of patients significantly as compared to placebo
and may be helpful in reducing the morbidity and mortality in the long term. However, caution
should be administered with orlistat because of high incidence of associated side effects.