Occupational Therapy for Adults with Overweight and Obesity: Mapping Interventions Involving Occupational Therapists

Worldwideobesityratesareincreasing.Theeffectivenessofoccupationaltherapyinoverweightandobeseadultshas notyetbeenclarified.Objectives.Thescopingreviewaimedatexaminingtheevidenceoninterventionsinvolvingoccupational therapistsinthetreatmentofadultswithoverweightandobesity.Methods.Dataoninterventionsinvolvingoccupational therapistsandreportingonlifestyle-relatedoutcomesinoverweightandobeseadultswasextractedfromthedatabases Cochrane,PubMed,CINAHL,andEmbase,includinghandandreferencesearch.ThescopingreviewmethodologyofArksey andO’Malleywasused.Conclusionswerebasedonnumericalandnarrativeanalysis.Results.Thirteenarticlesreportingon elevenstudiesmettheinclusioncriteria.Severalstudiesshowedsignificantweightloss.However,thestudiespossessedhigh heterogeneityandshowedinsufficientexplicationoftheroleandcontributionofoccupationaltherapytotheoutcomes. Conclusions.Theinterventionswithinvolvementofoccupationaltherapistsweresuggestedtohelpshort-termweightloss. Occupationaltherapistscontributedtotheoutcomeswithaholisticapproach,educatingontheroleofactivity,providing technologicalsupport,andpromotingenjoymentofbeingactive.Thereisaneedforfurtherdocumentationoftheeffectiveness, role,andcontributionsofoccupationaltherapyinthetreatmentofoverweightandobeseadultsinallsettings.