Table 1.

Attrition rates in outpatient paediatric weight management programmes

Study	n	Duration	Attrition	Variables significantly associated with dropout	Not associated with dropout
Barlow, Ohlemeyer 2006 (27)	157	Open-ended	61%	Higher BMI Presence of obesity-related medical condition (P = 0.06)	Race/ethnicity Age of child Single- or dual-parent household
Cote et al. 2004 (25)	12	12 weeks	55% (64% total)	Poorer caregiver-rated overall health status of child Lower caregiver-rated quality of care* Medicaid insurance†	Race* Income* Education* Gender* Age* Health status of child† Percentage over ideal body weight*
Denszer et al. 2004 (30)	294	Open-ended	62% by fourth visit	Higher body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) associated with more visits in programme	Weight change (reduction in BMI-SDS) Age Gender Regular counselling by dietitian (8-week intervals)
Heinberg et al. 2009 (33)	162	12 weeks	27% (early dropouts and infrequent attenders)	African–American race Higher baseline BMI	Age Gender
Kirk et al. 2005 (23)	394	5–6 months	55%	Not reported	Not studied
Kitscha et al. 2009 (28)	152	6–12 months	33%	Telephone interview. Major reasons for non-returns: physical barriers (scheduling, parking, location), clinic environment, programme content
Skelton et al. 2008 (24)	248 total	9–12 months	73%	None	Age of child Gender Race/ethnicity Insurance type (Medicaid, HMO, Commercial) Single- or dual-parent household
Sothern et al. 2002 (21)	93	12 months	39%	Not reported	Not reported
Tershakovec, Kuppler‡ 2003 (20)	518	Open-ended	49%	African–American race	Gender BMI z-score Insurance
Zeller et al.§ 2004 (26)	212	16 weeks	55%	African–American race* Medicaid* Single parent household Older age (patient)* Higher BMI/BMI z-scores Higher fasting insulin Lower triglyceride and cholesterol Depressive symptoms* School maladjustment Lower self-concept Externalizing behaviour Disruptive behavioural symptoms	Gender Systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements High-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol Travel distance to clinic Clinical maladjustment Personal maladjustment Internalizing behaviour Adaptive behaviour Caregiver's current psychological symptom status

^*By multivariate and bivariate analysis.

^†By multivariate analysis only.

^‡Patients with indemnity insurance had more clinic visits than patients with managed care.

^§Multivariate analysis candidate predictors chosen by statistical significance (P < 0.05) and clinically meaningful.

HMO, Health Maintenance Organization.