Obesity treatment initiation, retention, and outcomes in the Veterans Affairs MOVE! Program among rural and urban veterans

OBJECTIVE: Rural veterans have high obesity rates. Yet, little is known about this population's engagement with the Veterans Affairs (VA) weight management program (MOVE!). The study objective is to determine whether MOVE! enrollment, anti‐obesity medication use, bariatric surgery use, retention, and outcomes differ by rurality for veterans with severe obesity. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study using Veterans Health Administration patient databases, including VA patients with severe obesity during 2015–2017. Patients were categorized using Rural‐Urban Commuting Area codes. Primary outcomes included proportion of patients and risk‐adjusted likelihood of initiating VA MOVE!, anti‐obesity medication, or bariatric surgery and risk‐adjusted highly rural|Hazard Ratio (HR) of any obesity treatment. Secondary outcomes included treatment retention (≥12 weeks) and successful weight loss (5%) among patients initiating MOVE!, and risk‐adjusted odds of retention and successful weight loss. RESULTS: Among 640,555 eligible veterans, risk‐adjusted relative likelihood of MOVE! treatment was significantly lower for rural and HR veterans (HR = 0.83, HR = 0.67, respectively). Initiation rates of anti‐obesity medication use were significantly lower as well, whereas bariatric surgery rates, retention, and successful weight loss did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: Overall treatment rates with MOVE!, bariatric surgery, and anti‐obesity medications remain low. Rural veterans are less likely to enroll in MOVE! and less likely to receive anti‐obesity medications than urban veterans.