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Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open
Journal article
Overweight and obesity management in musculo-skeletal primary care: a survey of Australian health practitioners exploring 'the elephant in the room
Australian Journal of Primary Health, Vol.28, pp.573-579
30/08/2022
PMID: 36038358
Appears in Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Abstract
Background: Overweight and obesity has a bi-directional association with the growing burden of musculoskeletal (MSk) dysfunction and pain. It seems inevitable that MSk practitioners will see increasing numbers of patients who are overweight and or obese and require this to be addressed as part of their management. Little evidence exists to describe the engagement of patients and their MSk practitioner in weight management as an adjunct or direct component of their intervention or therapy.
Methods: A self-administered electronic survey was constructed with 13 items to collect self-reported data from Australian practitioners who have a focus on MSk management. The target group was from a multidisciplinary MSk network of 350 members.
Results: A total of 204 completed surveys were analysed from respondents working in one of seven MSk- related professions. It was found that 70% of patients/clients seen by respondents were overweight or obese and that <18% of these patients had weight management included as part of their treatment.
Conclusions: Sixty percent of the respondents in this survey indicated that they do not include weight management as part of their practice despite 70% of their patients/clients being overweight and or obese. With the exception of Medical Practitioners and Exercise Physiologists, in this survey, the other therapists including Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists, indicated that they lacked confidence, knowledge and methods to engage a systematic approach to weight management with their patients/clients.
Details
- Title
- Overweight and obesity management in musculo-skeletal primary care: a survey of Australian health practitioners exploring 'the elephant in the room
- Creators
- John Stevens - Southern Cross UniversityPaul Orrock - Southern Cross UniversityBrent Verco - Australian Musculo-Skeletal Network (AMSN)Garry Egger - Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM)
- Publication Details
- Australian Journal of Primary Health, Vol.28, pp.573-579
- Publisher
- CSIRO Publishing
- Identifiers
- 991013053612702368
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
- Academic Unit
- National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine; Allied Health and Midwifery; Faculty of Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article