Title

Risks to healthcare organizations and staff who manage obese (bariatric) patients and use of obesity data to mitigate risks: A literature review

Authors

Kim McClean, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Martyn Cross, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Sue Reed, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow

Author Identifier

Kim McClean

Martyn Cross

Sue Reed

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare

Publisher

Dove Press

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences

RAS ID

32954

Funders

Edith Cowan University - Open Access Support Scheme 2021

Comments

McClean, K., Cross, M., & Reed, S. (2021). Risks to healthcare organizations and staff who manage obese (bariatric) patients and use of obesity data to mitigate risks: A literature review. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 14, 577. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S289676

Abstract

This literature review explores obesity risks to healthcare staff and organizations that manage and caring for obese (bariatric) patients. These risks are anticipated to increase due to Australian population obesity rate projections increasing from 31% in 2018 to 42% by the year 2035, which will result in increased hospital admissions of patients with obesity. Literature searches were conducted through the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science. Thirty studies met the inclusion criteria and were tabulated and critiqued using appropriate appraisal techniques. High risk of injury to healthcare staff was identified relating to bariatric patient handling tasks. High liability and financial risks of organizations were also identified relating to workers’ compensation and common law claims by injured staff and medical negligence claims by patients with obesity. Availability of obesity data was identified within clinically captured information, which could be utilized to inform obesity risk management programs. Future research should focus on improving the use and quality of obesity data to better understand obesity risks to healthcare organizations and staff, including accurate identification of obese patient admissions, enhanced ability to measure bariatric patient handling hazards and related staff injuries and improved assessment of bariatric intervention effectiveness.

DOI

10.2147/JMDH.S289676

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License

Research Themes

Health