Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33422014›Full record

ArticleBMC family practice2021

Survey of perceptions and educational needs of primary care providers regarding management of patients with class II and III obesity in Ontario, Canada.

Boris Zevin, Mary Martin, Nancy Dalgarno, Linda Chan, Nardhana Sivapalan, Robyn Houlden, Richard Birtwhistle, Karen Smith, David Barber

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC family practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Barriers and enablers to effective weight management for people living with overweight and obesity: A rapid scoping review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Boris ZevinDepartment of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. boris.zevin@kingstonhsc.ca.
Mary MartinDepartment of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Nancy DalgarnoOffice of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Linda ChanOffice of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Nardhana SivapalanDepartment of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Robyn HouldenDepartment of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Richard BirtwhistleOffice of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Karen SmithDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
David BarberDepartment of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Queen's University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrimary care providers (PCPs) are typically the primary contact for patients with obesity seeking medical and surgical weight loss interventions; however, previous studies suggest that fewer than 7% of eligible adult patients are referred to publically funded medical and surgical weight loss interventions (MSWLI).

methodsWe performed an anonymous survey study between October 2017 and June 2018 to explore the knowledge, experiences, perceptions, and educational needs of PCPs in Southeastern Ontario in managing patients with class II and III obesity.

resultsSurveys were distributed to 591 PCPs (n = 538 family physicians; n = 53 nurse practitioners) identified as practicing in the Southeastern Ontario and 92 (15.6%) participated. PCPs serving a rural population estimated that 14.2 ± 10.9% of patients would qualify for MSWLI compared to 9.9 ± 8.5% of patients of PCPs serving an urban population (p = .049). Overall, 57.5% of respondents did not feel competent prescribing MSWLI to patients with class II/III obesity, while 69.8% stated they had 'good' knowledge of the referral criteria for MSWLI. 22.2% of respondents were hesitant to refer patients for bariatric surgery (BS) due to concerns about postoperative surgical complications and risks associated with surgery. Only 25% of respondents were comfortable providing long-term follow up after BS, and only 39.1% had participated in continuing education on management of patients with class II/III obesity in the past 5 years.

conclusionThe majority of PCPs believe there is a need for additional education about MSWLI for patients with class II/III obesity. Future studies are needed to develop and compare the effectiveness of additional education and professional development around risks of contemporary BS, indications to consider referral for MSWLI, management and long-term follow-up of patients after BS.

Indexed as

Physicians, Primary CareAdultHumansObesityOntarioPerceptionPrimary Health CareSurveys and QuestionnairesBariatric surgeryMedical weight lossObesity managementPrimary careSurvey study

Identifiers

PMID33422014
PMCPMC7797146
OpenAlexW3114504021

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.