Statistical analysis
The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality was used to confirm the normal
distribution of the variables. The results are presented as mean ±
standard deviation for numerical variables and absolute numbers
(percentage) for categorical variables. Paired Student’s t-test was used
for comparisons between the patients in the beginning and in the end of
the treatment and unpaired t- test was used to compare men and women.
Comparisons between different degrees of overweight were made with
One-Way and variance (ANOVA) analysis. Multivariate analysis (Dendogram)
was also performed to find out the degree of similarity (%) between the
mean of EWL and TWL groups.The Spearman correlation was used to verify
if the number of dietitian consultants was related to greater %EWL and
%TWL. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA (v.12.0,
Stata Corp. College Station, TX, USA) and a p<0.05 or
p<0.001 was considered to be significant.