Abstract
Objective: To understand the beliefs that primary care practitioners (PCPs) and patients with overweight and obesity have about obesity and primary care weight management in Scotland. Setting: Seven National Health Service (NHS) Scotland primary care centres. Participants: A total of 305 patients and 14 PCPs (12 general practitioners; two practice nurses) participated. Design and methodology: A cross-sectional mixed-methods study. PCPs and patients completed questionnaires assessing beliefs about obesity and primary care weight communication and management. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with PCPs to elaborate on questionnaire topics. Quantitative and qualitative data were synthesised to address study objectives. Results: (1) Many patients with overweight and obesity did not accurately perceive their weight or risk of developing weight-related health issues; (2) PCPs and patients reported behavioural factors as the most important cause of obesity, and medical factors as the most important consequence; (3) PCPs perceive their role in weight management as awareness raising and signposting, not prevention or weight monitoring; (4) PCPs identify structural and patient-related factors as barriers to weight communication and management, but not PCP factors. Conclusions: Incongruent and/or inaccurate beliefs held by PCPs and patient may present barriers to effective weight discussion and management in primary care. There is a need to review, standardise and clarify primary care weight management processes in Scotland. Acknowledging a shared responsibility for obesity as a disease may improve outcomes for patients with overweight and obesity.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | e034023 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | BMJ Open |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 9 Mar 2020 |
Bibliographical note
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Keywords
- primary care
- qualitative research
- public health
- Obesity Management/methods
- Awareness
- General Practitioners/statistics & numerical data
- Humans
- Middle Aged
- Overweight/epidemiology
- Male
- Case-Control Studies
- Scotland/epidemiology
- Adult
- Female
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Culture
- Communication
- Attitude of Health Personnel
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Primary Health Care/organization & administration
- Obesity/epidemiology
- Health Behavior/physiology
- Perception
- Aged
- National Health Programs/organization & administration
- Patients/psychology