Keywords: obesity management, barriers and facilitators, primary care, scoping review, pharmacological treatments, multilingual research

Background:

Obesity management in primary care is an urgent research priority due to its increasing global prevalence and associated health risks. Although primary care provides a unique setting for long-term patient engagement, obesity remains significantly undertreated. Despite the availability of effective evidence-based approaches, their implementation in primary care settings remains limited. This scoping review aims to explore barriers, facilitators, and intervention strategies for effective obesity management in both adults and children, focusing on primary care perspectives and diverse sources of literature.

Research questions:

What are the barriers and facilitators to implementing obesity management interventions in primary care settings?

Method:

A scoping review will be conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines to ensure methodological rigor. Peer-reviewed publications will be identified through comprehensive searches in multiple databases, including: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, and the Cochrane Library. Gray literature and non-indexed sources will also be included to enhance comprehensiveness. Multilingual research efforts will be undertaken to ensure inclusivity. Materials published in the last 5 years will be considered. Inclusion and exclusion criteria will follow the PICOS framework (population, intervention, comparison, outcome, study design). The protocol has been registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF).

Results:

Preliminary findings are expected to highlight regulatory and financial barriers to pharmacological treatments, the importance of using person-first language, and the central role of primary care providers in managing obesity. Key system-level and provider-level factors influencing implementation will also be identified.

Conclusions:

This review will map and synthesise the current evidence on how patient, provider, and system-level factors influence obesity management in primary care. Findings will support the development of practical strategies to improve the approach to obesity in primary care.

Points for discussion:

Do you have any grey literature or national guidelines on obesity management in primary care in your country?