Targeting obstetric providers in interventions for obesity and gestational weight gain: A systematic review

Providers need to be comfortable addressing obesity and gestational weight gain so they may give appropriate care; however, health care providers lack guidelines for the most effective educational strategies to assist in providing optimal care.

To identify studies that involved the obstetric provider in interventions for either the perinatal management of obesity and/or gestational weight gain in a systematic review.

A keyword search of databases was performed up to April 2017.

Obstetric providers who participated in an intervention with the aim to change a provider's clinical practice, knowledge, and/or satisfaction with the intervention in relation to the perinatal management of obesity or gestational weight gain were included. Provider intervention could include training or education, changes in systems or organization of care, or resources to support practice. PROSPERO database #42016038921.

Bias was assessed according to the validated Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The following variables were synthesized: study location and setting, provider and patient characteristics, intervention features, outcomes and efficacy, and strengths and weakness.

Of the 6,821 abstracts screened, seven studies (4 quantitative, 3 mixed-methods) with a total of 335 providers met the inclusion criteria; two of which focused on the management of obesity, three focused on gestational weight gain, and two focused on both topics. Interventions that incorporated motivational interviewing skills (n = 2), required additional training for the research study and addressed specific knowledge deficits such as nutrition and exercise (n = 3), and interfaced with the electronic medical record (n = 1) demonstrated the greatest impact on provider outcomes. Provider reported satisfaction scores were generally favorable, but none addressed provider-level efficacy in practice change.

Given the limited number of studies, varying range of provider participation, and lack of provider-level efficacy, further evaluation of provider training and involvement in interventions for perinatal obesity or gestational weight gain is indicated to determine best practices for provider and patient outcomes.