Effective strategies for prevention, control, and treatment of obesity in primary health care setting for adolescents, adults, and elderly people: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: It is unquestionable that obesity is a global epidemic and one of the main public health problems in the world. The management of obesity in Primary Health Care has an important role if being considered the magnitude and serious consequence of this problem. Despite this, there is no effective standard protocol for the treatment of this disease. Studies that synthesize and assess the effectiveness of strategies for prevention, control, and treatment of obesity in Primary Health Care setting are still scarce. The objective of this study is review and synthesize study evidence for obesity management strategies among adolescents, adults and elderly developed at the Primary Health Care worldwide. METHODS: Seven electronic databases (Medline, Lilacs, Embase, Psycinfo, Cochrane, WHOLIS and Open Gray) will be searched with no date limit for identification of clinical trials examining the effectiveness of prevention, control and treatment of obesity in Primary Health Care. As primary outcome will be changes in body weight. As secondary outcomes will be body mass index, body adiposity, waist circumference, and waist-hip ratio. Two independent authors will perform the selection of studies, data extraction, and the assessment of risk of bias. RESULTS: The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: This systematic review will be first to synthesize scientific evidence for obesity management strategies at Primary Health Care among adolescents, adults, and elderly. The review will benefit healthcare professionals and policymakers. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATIONS: Ethical approval is not required in this study because the data used include peer-reviewed publications, which do not comprise any information that could identify subjects. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO (CRD42018092416).