Objective: The present review aimed to examine the effectiveness of behavioural weight-loss interventions involving primary-care physicians in producing weight loss in overweight and obese primary-care patients.
Design: A systematic review was conducted by searching online databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, PsycINFO and SCOPUS) from January 1999 to December 2011. All abstracts were screened and coded for eligibility. The Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group quality criteria were used to assess the methodological adequacy of included studies. Information related to study design, population characteristics and intervention details was extracted.
Setting: Primary care.
Subjects: Overweight or obese (defined as having a BMI > or = 25.0 kg/m2) primary care patients.
Results: Sixteen different studies were included. Of these, six assessed primary care physicians’ delivery of weight-loss counselling; nine assessed weight-loss counselling delivered by non-physician personnel with monitoring by primary care physicians; and one assessed a multi-component intervention. Overall, high intensity weight-loss counselling by primary-care physicians resulted in moderate but not clinically significant weight loss. High-intensity weight-loss counselling delivered by non-physicians, meal replacements delivered in conjunction with dietitian counselling and referral to commercial weight-loss centre programmes accompanied by regular monitoring by a primary-care physician were effective in producing clinically significant weight loss. Dietitian-delivered care appeared effective in producing weight loss regardless of level of intervention intensity.
Conclusions: Overall, there were few studies on this topic and the methodological rigour of some included studies was poor. Additional studies assessing the effectiveness and acceptability of potential interventions are needed to confirm these findings.