October 5, 2011 – In order to update its 2003 recommendation, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a review to identify and assess any new available evidence on screening for and management of obesity and overweight in adults. The review, conducted by the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center, examined five key questions: 1) whether primary care screening programs that identify obese or overweight adults improve health or physiological outcomes or result in weight loss; 2) whether weight loss interventions that are feasible or referable in primary care settings improve health outcomes; 3) whether weight loss interventions improve physiological outcomes; 4) whether weight loss interventions result in short-term (12 to 18 months) or long-term (more than 18 months) weight loss; and 5) whether weight loss interventions cause any harms.
The evidence report was published in the October 4 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine and is available on the USPSTF Web site at http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/EvidenceReportFinal/v2-obesity-in-adults-screening-and-counseling-2012. The USPSTF used the evidence report to inform its draft recommendation statement on screening for and management of obesity and overweight in adults, which will soon be available for public comment on the USPSTF Web site.
