General practitioners (GPs) are in an ideal position
to provide weight management to overweight and obese patients due to the
long-term nature of the patient- physician relationship. Clinical practice
guidelines provide detailed, evidence-based recommendations for assessing and
managing overweight and obesity. However, the adoption and implementation of
these guidelines may be influenced by a GP’s confidence in, and attitudes
towards, weight management. An online survey of Australian GPs (n=250)
from rural (8%), regional (19%) and metro (73%) areas was conducted. The survey
included questions relating to patient population characteristics, and
attitudes and behaviours in weight management.
GPs were found to fall into 1 of 3 categories: 1) confident and self-assured in
weight management (47%); 2) less confident in discussing weight management
(23%); and 3) casual or apathetic to weight management (30%). Not surprisingly,
GPs who appeared more confident (category 1) reported discussing weight with a
higher proportion of their overweight and obese patients (73% overweight and
86% obese, versus 66% overweight and 79% obese for category 2 and 64%
overweight and 76% obese for category 3).
If a GP’s confidence in weight management influences the likelihood of
discussing weight with an overweight or obese patient, then strategies to
increase GPs’ confidence in weight management could be an important aspect of
managing the obesity epidemic in the primary care setting.
This study was funded by iNova.