Table 1.
Summary of characteristics and design for studies included in this systematic review
| Author | Location | Study period | Study design | Sample size (n) | Response rate | NOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thuan et al., 2005 | France | NR | • Survey sent to 744 general practitioners registered by the regional representation of the Health Department | 607 | 81.6% | 5 |
| Avidor et al., 2007 | USA | Apr 2004–Nov 2004 | • Questionnaires self-administered at 6 national meetings to physicians of 6 specialty areas: BARI, OBGYN, IM, ENDO, CARD, and FP | 478 | NR | 6 |
| Sansone et al., 2007 | USA | NR | • Survey mailed to 246 physicians from the department of IM, FM, and OBGYN in a community hospital | 99 | 40% | 4 |
| Balduf et al., 2008 | NC, USA | NR | • Survey mailed to 400 FP and 400 IM physicians from North Carolina Health Professions Data System | 288 | 47% | 8 |
| Ferrante et al., 2009 | NJ, USA | March 2008 | • Survey of family physicians who were members of the New Jersey Family Medicine Research Network and 136 additional family physicians from a Blue Cross Blue Shield provider directory | 255 | 53% | 7 |
| Salinas et al., 2011 | USA | 2009 | • Questionnaire sent to 1000 family physicians and general internists from a national database of “opted-in” physicians matched to AMA Physician Masterfile | 293 | NR | 6 |
| Sarwer et al., 2012 | Philadelphia, PA, USA | NR | • Survey e-mails sent to physicians affiliated with an academic medical center and community-based physicians identified through databases | 93 | 27.4% | 7 |
| Claridge et al., 2014 | Wellington, New Zealand | NR | • Qualitative study involving series of 12 semi-structured interviews with general practitioners | 12 | NR | 3 |
| Giaro et al., 2014 | Poland | 2010–2011 | • Anonymous questionnaire administered to surgeons during local educational conferences | 143 | NR | 4 |
| Glauser et al., 2015 | USA | Feb 2013 | • Case vignette survey sent to 1625 PCPs, ENDOs, CARDs, and BARIs identified through Annual AMA Physician Characteristics and Distribution US Report | 300 | 18.46% | 6 |
| Kim et al., 2015 | New South Wales, Australia | Nov 2013–July 2014 | • Semi-structured interviews among general practitioners working in primary care organizations | 24 | 75% | 6 |
| Stanford et al., 2015 | USA | July 2014 – Oct 2014 | • Online survey sent to PCPs affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital | 76 | 32% | 6 |
| Tork et al., 2015 | Cincinnati, OH, USA | NR | • Survey administered to PCPs affiliated with The Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital | 57 | 35.4% | 5 |
| Auspitz et al., 2016 | Canada | 2014 | • Survey administered to all physicians practicing FM and listed in the Canadian Medical Directory | 165 | 12% | 5 |
| Funk et al., 2016 | WI, USA | NR | • Focus groups conducted with PCPs who were members of the Wisconsin Research and Education Network | 16 | 61.5% | 5 |
| Hirpara et al., 2016 | Canada | Sep 2012–Dec 2012 | • Survey administered to attendees of two general surgery conferences, and recipients of the electronic newsletters from OAGS and CAGS | 167 | 10% | 8 |
| Jung et al., 2016 | Germany | NR | • Questionnaire distributed by mail to general practitioners and internists found in the telephone directory | 201 | 16.3% | 5 |
| Major et al., 2016 | Poland | 2015–2016 | • Prospective anonymous questionnaire-based study distributed to GPs, physicians from IM, radiology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, palliative care, occupational medicine, public health, and geriatrics | 200 | NR | 4 |
| Stolberg et al., 2017 | Denmark | Feb 2016–Apr 2016 | • Survey administered to 300 PCPs systematically selected from a health platform from the Danish Ministry of Health and Danish Regions | 133 | 44% | 7 |
| Zacharoulis et al., 2017 | Thessaly, Greece | NR | • Self-administered survey distributed to 500 physicians, endocrinologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, orthopedics, gynecologists, general surgeons, and other specialties | 300 | 60% | 6 |
| Falvo et al., 2018 | PA, USA | NR | • Survey emailed to 160 PCPs at Allegheny Health Network | 45 | 28.1% | 5 |
| Martini et al., 2018 | France | May 2017–July 2017 | • E-questionnaire developed by two bariatric surgeons distributed to practicing general practitioners and FPs | 288 | 12.9% | 7 |
| McGlone et al., 2018 | England | 2015 | • Survey administered to three different PCP consortiums | 35 | 9.16% | 5 |
| Simon et al., 2018 | MI, USA | May 2017 | • Survey administered to providers in primary care (IM, FM, and women’s health) and endocrinology in a large health system | 111 | 26% | 4 |
| Conaty et al., 2020 | Evanston, IL, USA | Mar 2018–Jun 2018 | • Survey administered to PCPs at the Northshore University Health System | 150 | 28% | 4 |
| El-Beheiry et al., 2020 | Manitoba, Canada | July 2015–Sep 2015 | • Questionnaire mailed to all registered FPs and attendees of the 2016 provincial conference of FPs | 131 | 13.1% | 6 |
| Elliott et al., 2020 | Denmark | NR | • Questionnaires administered to orthopedic surgeons, obstetricians/gynecologists, 300 endocrinologists, 169 physicians treating patients with obstructive sleep apnea | 345 | 44% | 4 |
| Lopez et al., 2020 | WI, USA | NR | • Questionnaire emailed to PCPs at the Medical College of Wisconsin | 41 | 33.9% | 6 |
| Egerer et al., 2021 | Aachen, Germany | Oct 2019–Mar 2020 | • Survey administered to PCPs in the region of a bariatric surgery center at the University Hospital | 204 | 31% | 6 |
| Memarian et al., 2021 | Skåne & Kronoberg, South Sweden | 2019 | • Survey emailed to all PCPs with available email addresses | 157 | 14% | 6 |
| Özgüc et al., 2021 | Turkey | 2019 | • Survey distributed to PCPs through social media, association websites, and randomly selected physicians | 1044 | NR | 4 |
| Sbraccia et al., 2021 | Italy | Jun–July 2018 | • Online survey administered to persons with obesity and healthcare professionals from Italian cohort of ACTION-IO study | 302 (HCPs) | NR | 6 |
| Zevin et al., 2021 | Ontario, Canada | Oct 2017–Jun 2018 | • Survey emailed to PCPs practicing in the Southeast Local Health Integration Network | 92 | 15.6% | 6 |
| Alenezi et al. 2022 | Saudi Arabia | Mar 2022–Aug 2022 | • Study conducted among PCPs in northern Saudi Arabia who work in public hospital settings | 280 | NR | 8 |
| Carrasco et al., 2022 | Sweden | 2021 | • Questionnaire survey sent to PCPs to assess knowledge, attitudes, and adherence to guidelines for obesity treatment guidelines | 235 | 14.3% | 3 |
| Holmes et al., 2022 | Ontario, Canada | 2020 | • Survey emailed to all ENDOs, endocrinology residents, and diabetes nurse practitioners at the University of Toronto | 48 | NR | 5 |
| Murtha et al., 2022 | USA | Aug 2016–May 2017 | • Interview-based study conducted among eligible patients and providers (PCPs, bariatric surgeons, registered dieticians, and health psychologists) | 40 (providers) | 22% | 4 |
| Ouni et al., 2022 | USA | July 2021–Aug 2021 | • Questionnaire administered to PCPs at the Mayo Clinic healthcare system | 130 | 40% | 4 |
| Zawadzka et al., 2022 | Poland | Oct 2019 and Jan 2021 | • Survey administered to internists, diabetologists, and trainees in both fields attending two virtual conferences via an online, anonymous and self-administered format | 64 | 37.9% | 7 |
| Mojkowska et al., 2023 | Poland | Jan 2019–Sep 2020 | • Survey conducted among active HCPs (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics) | 184 | NR | 4 |
Abbreviations: ACTION-IO Awareness, Care & Treatment in Obesity Management–An International Observation, AMA American Medical Association, BARI bariatric medicine, CAGS Canadian Association of General Surgeons, CARD cardiologists, ENDO endocrinologists, FM family medicine, FP family practitioners, HCP healthcare professional, IM internal medicine, NOS Newcastle–Ottawa Scale, NR not reported, OAGS Ontario Association of General Surgeons, OBGYN obstetrics/gynecology, PCP primary care physician