No abstract

This narrative review examines randomized controlled trials of the management of obesity in primary care practice, in light of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ decision to support intensive behavioral weight loss counseling provided by physicians and related health professionals. Mean weight losses of 0.1–2.3 kg were observed with brief (10- to 15-min) behavioral counseling delivered by primary care providers (PCPs) at monthly to quarterly visits. Losses increased to 1.7–7.5 kg when brief PCP counseling was combined with weight loss medication. Collaborative treatment, in which medical assistants delivered brief monthly behavioral counseling in conjunction with PCPs, produced losses of 1.6–4.6 kg in periods up to two years. Remotely delivered, intensive (>monthly contact) behavioral counseling, as offered by telephone, yielded losses of 0.4–5.1 kg over the same period. Further study is needed of the frequency and duration of visits required to produce clinically meaningful weight loss (>5%) in primary care patients. In addition, trials are needed that examine the cost-effectiveness of PCP-delivered counseling, compared with that potentially provided by registered dietitians or well-studied commercial programs.

Primary care practitioners (PCPs) have been encouraged to screen all adults for obesity and to offer behavioral weight loss counseling to affected individuals. However, there is limited research and guidance on how to provide such intervention in primary care settings. This led the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in 2005 to issue a request for applications to investigate the management of obesity in routine clinical care. Three institutions were funded under a cooperative agreement to undertake the Practice-based Opportunities for Weight Reduction (POWER) trials. The present article reviews selected randomized controlled trials, published prior to the initiation of POWER, and then provides a detailed overview of the rationale, methods, and results of the POWER trial conducted at the University of Pennsylvania (POWER-UP). POWER-UP’s findings are briefly compared with those from the two other POWER Trials, conducted at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University/Washington University. The methods of delivering behavioral weight loss counseling differed markedly across the three trials, as captured by an algorithm presented in the article. Delivery methods ranged from having medical assistants and PCPs from the practices provide counseling to using a commercially-available call center, coordinated with an interactive web-site. Evaluation of the efficacy of primary care-based weight loss interventions must be considered in light of costs, as discussed in relation to the recent treatment model proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.