None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Obesity is one of the most prevalent and challenging diseases affecting our community. According to the latest census figures, 63.4% of Australians aged 18 years and over were overweight or obese, namely, 35.0% overweight and 28.3% obese. Significant weight loss (>20% body weight) delivers impressive health and economic benefits, but even modest weight loss (>5% body weight) leads to significant health benefits and cost savings. Weight loss, therefore, has the potential to be one of the most important heath care interventions in our community. Yet despite the recognised benefits for both the obese individual and society as a whole from weight loss, obesity remains a disease that is largely under-diagnosed and under-treated. The reasons for this paradox are complex and include the difficulty treating obesity, along with a lack of effective treatment options. The situation is then complicated by societal stigmatisation of the obese individual. It is well recognized that healthcare professionals also stigmatize the obese, and often feel uncomfortable raising the issue of weight control with their patients. In this study, we aim to pilot a programme designed to increase awareness of the importance of diagnosing obesity in the tertiary hospital setting. We hypothesise that if a tertiary hospital provides a diagnosis of obesity to a patient, this will motivate the patient to make an attempt at weight loss and by providing the patient's GP the opportunity to raise obesity as a health issue, will help to reduce the stigma associated with obesity. Building on Alfred Health’s success with a brief intervention for smokers, we have worked with the Nutrition and Dietetics Department to design a brief intervention tool to be provided to patients. This tool provides simple information on healthy eating, exercise and community resources to support weight loss. Given that The Alfred protocol requires weight, height and BMI calculation on admission to the Alfred, we plan to provide a diagnosis of obesity to all patients with a BMI >30 and then provide them with this tool as well as inform the General Practitioner (GP) of the diagnosis and recommend weight management in the discharge summary. Prior to broadly implementing this programme we wish to test feasibility and acceptability of this approach. We plan to trial the programme by randomizing patients to either standard care or the new programme. Three months post discharge we will ascertain if the GP did discuss weight management with their patient, if there has been any attempt at weight loss as well as GP and patient satisfaction. Feedback from the hospital staff will also be collected.
Interventions
Intervention: a brief intervention for obesity.
This 'brief intervention' will involve a 5-10 minute private conversation between the patient and their doctor in hospital which is integrated into their existing interaction during their hospital admission (timing at the discretion of the doctor) or during the pre-admission clinic consultation. :
1) Informing the patient of their weight and diagnosis of obesity.
2) Providing a pamphlet (developed by the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at Th
Intervention: a brief intervention for obesity. This 'brief intervention' will involve a 5-10 minute private conversation between the patient and their doctor in hospital which is integrated into their existing interaction during their hospital admission (timing at the discretion of the doctor) or during the pre-admission clinic consultation. : 1) Informing the patient of their weight and diagnosis of obesity. 2) Providing a pamphlet (developed by the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at The Alfred) which contains educational material on the problem of obesity, basic advice on weight loss and links to community resources (LiveLighter.com and The Alfred website to a page also developed by the Nutrition and Dietetics Department). 3) Advising the patient to see their GP for further support 4) Informing the patient's GP of the diagnosis of obesity via discharge summary or letter Medical staff involved have been instructed that the objective of the conversation is to prompt the patient to take further steps following up with weight management post-discharge.
Sponsors
Centre of Obesity Research and Education, Monash University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Body mass index (BMI) > 30 kg/m^2 Admitted to inpatient ward or attendance at a scheduled pre-admission clinic appointment
Exclusion criteria
Patients with current or past history of bariatric surgery Major medical illness which contraindicates weight loss Non-English speaking
Outcome results
None listed