Six Months Results of Obesity Management in Primary Care

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study was to give obese patients diet and exercise program and behavior modification who had admitted to the outpatient clinic in primary care, to lose 5-10% of their weight within 6 months. Methods: This study was performed at March 2017- March 2018 in Erciyes University Family Medicine Department with the approval of the ethics committee and with the support of the Scientific Research Projects (ERUBAP, Project No. TTU-2016-7091). Patients with body mass index 30-40 kg/m2 between the ages of 18-65 who applied to the family medicine polyclinic were included in the study. Diets were initiated according to baseline metabolic rates, exercise and fluid consumption recommendations were made, and behavior modification were told. Results: In the observation group 2 people (10%) had lost more than 10% of their weight; 10 people (50%) had lost 5-10%, and the remaining 40% had lost 1-5% of their weight. On average, 5.2 (92.3±2.63 to 87.1±2.44) kg were lost at 3 months, while this was 4.3 kg (88.00±2.62) at 6 months. The weight loss of the patients in the first 3 months was above expectations. Afterwards, however, the patients had a slight weight regain due to difficulties in diet compliance and not having enough time for exercise, but they did not return to their starting weight at the end of the study. Conclusion: It has been observed that obesity care could be done in primary care and family physicians should be encouraged to do so.