Oral Presentation Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Conference 2024

Financial and time constraints identified as the most important barriers to obesity management in primary care in Australia. (#27)

Carly Barlow 1 2 3 4 , Andrea Jasper 5 6 , Terri-Lynne South 7 8 , Ramesh Manocha 9 10 , Nuria Zamora Solano 11 , Christine Kim 11 , Talia Palacios 11 , Samantha Hocking 12 13 14
  1. Gold Coast Private Hospital, Southport, Qld, Australia
  2. The Weight Loss Specialist Clinic, Southport, Qld, Australia
  3. The Metabolic Dietitian, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia
  4. Lightly, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia
  5. Impact Obesity, Cremorne, Vic, Australia
  6. Darebin Weight Loss Surgery, Bulleen, Vic, Australia
  7. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Specific Interest Group in Obesity Management, East Melbourne, Vic, Australia
  8. Lifestyle Metabolic, Ashgrove, Qld, Australia
  9. Healthed, Burwood, NSW, Australia
  10. General Practice Clinical School, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  11. NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  12. Metabolism and Obesity Services Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  13. Boden Initiative, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  14. Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Background: Although obesity affects almost 1 in 3 Australian adults, few general practice consultations focus on obesity management. We aimed to determine barriers and enablers to obesity management among Australian general practitioners (GPs) specific to the Australian primary care context.

Methods: An online survey on obesity management was distributed through the National Association of Clinical Obesity Services (NACOS), the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Obesity Specific Interest Group and Healthed. GPs were asked to identify and rank barriers and enablers to the delivery of obesity care.

Results: The survey was completed by 943 GPs. Of these, 65.9% were female, mean years in practice beyond training was 24.3 years and 35% of practices were located outside large cities (population ≤ 150,000 inhabitants). The majority (96.5%) were not aware of the Australian Obesity Management Algorithm. The top 5 barriers to implementing obesity management were inadequate Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) renumeration for weight management consultations, unaffordability of pharmacotherapy for obesity, insufficiency of MBS chronic disease management plans for the treatment of obesity, competing patient health concerns at the time of the consultation and insufficient consultation time. The top 5 enablers for obesity management included increasing the MBS rebate for long consultations, access to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) funded anti-obesity medications, extended MBS chronic disease management plans for obesity, increased access to public hospital obesity services and increased training for GPs in obesity management.

Conclusion: This large survey of Australian GPs identified financial and time constraints as the most important barriers to the delivery of obesity management. Consistent with this, identified enablers included increasing MBS and PBS funding for obesity care and pharmacotherapy. To improve obesity management in the primary care setting, efforts in lobbying government for enhanced MBS and PBS funding for obesity management should be prioritised.