Healthcare Service Interventions to Improve the Healthcare Outcomes of Hospitalised Patients with Extreme Obesity: Protocol for an Evidence and Gap Map.

Hospitalised patients with extreme obesity have poorer healthcare outcomes compared to normal weight patients. How hospital services are coordinated and delivered to meet the care needs of patients with extreme obesity is not well understood. The aim of the proposed evidence gap map (EGM) is to identify and assess the available evidence on healthcare interventions to improve healthcare outcomes for hospitalised patients with extreme obesity. This research will use standardised evidence gap map methods to undertake a five-stage process to develop an intervention-outcome framework; identify the current evidence; critically appraise the quality of the evidence, extract, code, and summarise the data in relation to the EGM objectives; and create a visualisation map to present findings. This EGM will provide a means of determining the nature and quality of health service initiatives available, identify the components of the services delivered and the outcome measures used for evaluation, and will identify areas where there is a lack of research that validates the funding of new research studies.