Lack of weight management discussions in primary care

A recent review has found that weight-related communication in primary care is uncommon and there is a lack of focus on patient weight-related outcomes. This comes after 20 papers were included in the final review that all examined weight-related communication and its relationship to patient weight outcomes. As primary care is effectively placed for a role within patient weight management, the authors of this study wanted to assess to what end weight management is discussed in primary context.

The paper found that specific patient centred communication from the medical practitioner and motivational interviewing led to improved outcomes. The authors hope that future research will measure doctor and patient communications during weight discussion in order to develop an intervention that assists doctors and improves overall outcomes for the patient.