Measuring the balance of decisions to reduce body weight among overweight or obesity people: a systematic review.

Introduction: Behavioral strategies have been adding to the effectiveness of obesity treatment. And the assessment of the decisional balance (DB) for weight reduction, that is, the balance between expected losses and gains around the behavioral changes, is strategic for managing obesity. The DB assessment may contribute to the agreement on strategies to face the challenges of the treatment. But, there is a need to use a valid instrument to assess the DB. Objective: evaluate the quality of instruments assessing DB for weight reduction to qualify obesity management in the Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS (Unified Health System). Methods: A systematic review of studies about instrument development and/or validation was carried out on seven databases using the Cosmin methodology. Terms related to psychometrics, obesity, and DB were combined with Boolean operators to guide the search. Two researchers performed independently and in duplicate: data extraction, quality assessment, and evidence synthesis, and divergences were resolved by consensus. This review was registered in the international database Prospero (CRD42020197797). Results: Five studies were identified. Three of them reported translations and cross-cultural validity of the same instrument. All analyses presented DB in two dimensions (pros and cons), but used doubtful or inadequate methods. Most of the evidence was very low rate. Conclusions: The results did not support the instrument's use, translations, or cross-cultural adaptation. It is necessary to develop a new tool. By providing a valid instrument for use in SUS, this study could contribute to qualifying the care of people with obesity and stopping the growth of obesity in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]