Poster Presentation Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Conference 2023

A Systematic review of loneliness and social isolation interventions in obesity and related chronic conditions (#248)

Ghada Alsultany 1 , Kathryn Williams 2 3 , Milan Piya 4 5 , Kate McBride 1 4
  1. Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
  2. Charles Perkins Centre , The University of Sydney, Kingswood, NSW, Australia
  3. Family Metabolic Health Service, Dept of Endocrinology, Nepean Hospital, NBMLHD, Kingswood, NSW, Australia
  4. School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
  5. South Western Sydney Metabolic Rehabilitation and Bariatric Program, Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia

People living with obesity and related chronic conditions may be at greater risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness (SIL). Experiencing SIL has been associated with factors such as increased risk of hospitalisation and worse disease outcomes, including more complications, compared to those who do not experience SIL. As such, there is potential for interventions addressing SIL to concurrently address disease related outcomes. This systematic review aims to examine the efficacy of interventions addressing SIL in people with obesity and related chronic conditions and to identify the characteristics and components of these interventions, as well as efficacy. Interventions addressing loneliness and/or social isolation in adults (≥18 years) with obesity (BMI ≥30kg/m2) and related chronic conditions will be included for review. Studies will be excluded if no measures relevant to SIL are listed. A comprehensive search strategy has been developed and the databases SCOPUS, PsycINFO, EMBASE searched, resulting in 3519 articles once duplicates were removed. Articles have been uploaded into the Covidence systematic review program, where an initial title and abstract screen took place, with 43 articles identified for full-text review. Inclusion and exclusion criteria will guide full text screening, with reasons for exclusion noted. Each step is being performed independently by two authors and discrepancies solved through discussion with the broader research team. Risk of bias will be evaluated using appropriate tools, such as the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. A narrative synthesis of the intervention characteristics and components will be included, as well as a summary of findings in tabular form. If possible, a meta-analysis will be carried out using the random effects model and outcomes will be reported as standardised mean differences or risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Preliminary results of the systematic review will be presented.