from the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol
The Game of Stones research study offered men £400 for losing weight
A major UK study led by health experts at the University of Stirling in partnership with the universities of Bristol; New Brunswick, Canada; Aberdeen; Glasgow and Queen’s University Belfast, has found that offering text messages with financial incentives is effective in helping men to lose weight.
Research into inflammatory marker testing has led to a reduction and rationalisation in their use by GPs in both Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) and the South West Peninsula.
In BNSSG alone, data suggests the research saved the local NHS nearly £115,000 and GPs more than 600 hours a year. Further savings will have come from avoiding follow-on appointments for thousands of false positives.
The research was led by Dr Jessica Watson, an academic GP at the Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC) at the University of Bristol, as part of her ARC West supported PhD.
Primary care data on more than 1.8 million adults with overweight or obesity found that only about 3 percent were referred to weight management interventions.
Of the more than 1.8 million adults in England with a recorded diagnosis of being overweight or obesity, only 3 percent are referred to publicly funded weight management programmes, according to a new University of Bristol-led study published today [28 Sep] in PLOS Medicine.