Preparing medical students to facilitate lifestyle changes with obese patients: A systematic review of the literature

Chisholm, A, Hart, J, Mann, KV, Harkness, E and Peters, S (2012) Preparing medical students to facilitate lifestyle changes with obese patients: A systematic review of the literature Academic Medicine, 87 (7). pp. 912-923. ISSN 1040-2446, 1040-2446

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Abstract

PURPOSE: Doctors will increasingly encounter opportunities to support obese patients in lifestyle change efforts, but the extent to which medical schools prepare their students for this challenge is unknown. Further, despite evidence indicating theory-based techniques are effective in facilitating patients' behavioral changes, the methods taught to medical students and the means of content delivery are unclear. The authors reviewed the literature to investigate how effective educational interventions are in preparing medical students to facilitate lifestyle changes with obese patients. METHOD: The authors systematically searched Excerpta Medica (EMBASE), PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Scopus for educational interventions on obesity management for medical students published in English between January 1990 and November 2010 and matching PICOS (Population, Interventions, Comparators, Outcomes, Study design) inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Results of a narrative synthesis are presented. Of 1,680 studies initially identified, 36 (2%) full-text articles were reviewed, and 12 (1%) were included in the final dataset. Eleven (92%) of these studies had quantitative designs; of these, 7 (64%) did not include control groups. Nine (75%) of the 12 studies were atheoretical, and 4 (33%) described behavior management strategies. Despite positive reported outcomes regarding intervention evaluations, procedures to control for bias were infrequently reported, and conclusions were often unsupported by evidence. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from this systematic review revealed data highly susceptible to bias; thus, intervention efficacy could not be determined. Additionally, evidence-based strategies to support patients' obesity-related behavior changes were not applied to these studies, and thus it remains unknown how best to equip medical students for this task.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Obesity, Exercise, Diet, Physician-Patient Relations, Life Style, Education, Medical, United States, Israel, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Weight Reduction Programs
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	05 Aug 2016 10:01
Last Modified:	10 Apr 2026 11:02
DOI:	10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182580648
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3002779
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