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It is reported that the thesis section is available, to publish abstracts of postgraduate theses in the disciplinary field. Who submits your thesis, must present the title, abstract, key words (include Occupational Therapy), and a summary of 2 to 3 pages of your thesis. And `present it in Spanish, English and / or Portuguese.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERVENTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY: SCOPING REVIEW

Authors

Abstract

Introduction: The knowledge about the characteristics and available evidence of occupational therapy interventions in the management of obesity and overweight is scarce, with also limited scalability of occupational therapy in health policies and programs. Objective: To characterize occupational therapy interventions for the management of overweight and/or obesity. Method: Scoping Review. EBSCOhost, Embase, PubMed, PsychInfo, Scielo and Scopus databases were included, with studies published from inception to June 2020. PRISMA ScR guidelines were used. Criteria for article selection included interventions that: a) Evaluated an occupational therapy intervention in overweight and/or obesity, b) Reported quantitative results, and c) Were published in a peer-reviewed journal, d) Full text available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Results: 5 studies were included in the review. Four studies corresponded to quasi-experimental design (pretest-posttest, no comparison group), and one study used a mixed-method design with a pretest-postest study adding a qualitative component. Interventions found were heterogeneous and changes were not significant for the outcome weight reduction. Significant results were found in other dimensions, such as resignification of the use of leisure time and the incorporation of healthy habits. Discussion: Occupational therapy interventions include heterogeneous protocols embedded in larger overweight and obesity management programs. Available studies provide limited evidence of their effectiveness, and their potential outcomes are more consistent with psychosocial dimensions than morphological ones, such as body weight. Experimental research is remarkably needed to establish the action of occupational therapy in these problems of public health relevance.