August 6, 2014
GPs shouldn’t be afraid of the scales, experts say
Asking patients to weigh in at each visit to their GP could help reduce obesity rates, new research from UOW has found.
The preliminary results of a year-long study, which are being presented at the Illawarra and Southern Practice Research Network (ISPRN) Research Conference on 9 August, indicate that obese patients who weighed in and discussed their weight management with their GP on each visit had modest weight loss over a 12 month period.
Lead researcher Dr Duncan MacKinnon, from ISPRN, said while the numbers aren’t big, they are encouraging.
“We know that the average Australian adult gains 0.416 kg a year, so staying weight-neutral is a significant accomplishment. This small intervention could have nationwide benefits with minimal costs for national health services.”
Dr MacKinnon said with obesity estimated at costing the Australian economy $58billion annually, this small intervention, coupled with other tools such as motivational interviewing, means GPs could have a big influence on obesity in Australia.
“Expressing empathy [and] supporting self-efficacy… may win more hearts and minds than traditional approaches to this problem,” he said.
Professor Andrew Bonney, Roberta Williams Chair of General Practice at UOW’s Graduate School of Medicine and Director of ISPRN, was also involved in the study. He said the results were encouraging and warranted further investigation.
Four other research teams from ISPRN will also present findings from their studies at the conference, including the first study investigating Australian patient attitudes toward chaperone use in General Practice, as well as a study into the reasons why GPs are being asked to remove the contraceptive implant, Implanon, early.
Note to media: The Illawarra and Southern Practice Research Network Research Conference will take place on Saturday 9 August, 8.45am-2pm, at Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute Lecture Theatre, University of Wollongong. Professor Don Iverson Executive Dean, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, will be the keynote speaker.
Media contact: Professor Andrew Bonney is available for interview on Thursday 7 August. Please contact Elise Pitt, Media & PR Officer, +61 2 4221 3079, +61 422 959 953 or epitt@uow.edu.au.
About the Illawarra and Southern Practice Research Network: The Illawarra and Southern Practice Research Network (ISPRN) is a network of primary care researchers covering the southern region of NSW. ISPRN was established in 2011 by a Department of Health and Ageing, research and capacity building grant. From 2012 ISPRN has been supported by a partnership between the Graduate School of Medicine and the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute. This network of now 40 GP practices supports individual investigator projects and also provides a framework for other researchers to partner with GP practices in research. There are currently 14 GP led research projects underway in our local community.