The findings of a new study published today in Family Practice by Oxford University Press indicate that when clinicians advise patients with obesity to lose weight, their advice is often ambiguous, superficial, and not backed by scientific evidence.
Obesity is a long-term condition that can come back, but doctors don’t always know how to help their patients who want to lose weight. As a consequence, it might be difficult for patients to use and integrate the information they receive. Patients often complain about negative encounters because they find these weight-related interactions to be challenging.
The team listened to and examined 159 audio recordings of doctor visits with obese patients in the UK between 2013 and 2014. The study showed that physicians’ recommendations for weight reduction in their obese patients often consisted of urging them to eat less and do more exercise. The advise was often general and seldom ever customized to the patients’ pre-existing understanding and habits, such as the weight-loss methods they had previously attempted.
In the consultations that were evaluated, the advice was generally abstract or generic (97% of the time). There was a lot of superficial advice, including one doctor encouraging a patient to just “change their lifestyle a bit.” In just 20% of visits, doctors offered patients instructions on how to follow their recommendations. They mostly provided advice on losing weight without providing any information on how to implement it. Most of the time (76% of the time) during consultations, doctors told patients who wanted to lose weight to get help somewhere else. Often, they suggested that the patients come back for another consultation at their surgery.
The analysis showed that when doctors did give specific advice, it was often not backed by science and wasn’t likely to help people lose weight. It is a popular misconception that simple behavioral adjustments—such as taking the stairs more frequently—can result in significant weight reduction. However, there is no evidence to support this claim. Another widely held belief was that all patients required was the “right mindset” to be successful in their weight loss efforts.
“This research demonstrates that doctors need clear guidelines on how to talk opportunistically to patients living with obesity about weight loss,” adds one of the paper’s lead authors, Madeleine Tremblett. “This can help them to avoid amplifying stigmatizing stereotypes and give effective help to patients who want to lose weight.”
Source: 10.1093/fampra/cmac137
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