Acceptability and impact of weight management interventions for adults with intellectual disability: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Authors

Ananya Ananthakrishnan, Edward Meinert, Rosiered Brownson-Smith, Rohit Shankar

Published in

BMJ open. Volume 16. Issue 8. Pages e115188. Aug 04, 2026. Epub Aug 04, 2026.

Abstract

Obesity disproportionately impacts people with intellectual disabilities (PwID). Given the challenges that PwID face, such as cognitive deficits, differences in motivation and communication difficulties, the need for tailored interventions for weight management in PwID is recognised. Yet, this population is underserved, with limited weight management interventions for them compared with the general population. Existing reviews suggest that 'multi-component' interventions (including physical activity and dietary advice) are impactful at reducing weight in PwID; however, less is known about how these interventions are tailored for PwID, particularly in addressing their cognitive and communication difficulties which may influence how they understand and engage with strategies. Additionally, the acceptability and impact of these interventions on health behaviours are less explored. These indicate a need for a better understanding of these aspects to inform the future development and implementation of impactful interventions. To address this need, this review aims to assess the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions for weight management for PwID at reducing weight and improving healthy weight behaviours (eg, physical activity and diet), evaluate their acceptability, and explore how the interventions are tailored for PwID.
This review will be structured using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) and Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome and Study frameworks. PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science will be searched for weight management interventions for PwID. The titles, abstracts and full texts of the identified articles will be screened by two independent reviewers followed by data extraction into a predetermined form. The quality of the included articles will be assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias 2 tool (for randomised controlled trials) and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (for all other study designs). Meta-analyses will be conducted to synthesise the overall impact of the interventions on weight-related and behavioural outcomes (where feasible). Quantitative data ineligible for the meta-analyses and qualitative data about the intervention characteristics and acceptability will be narratively synthesised.
Ethical approval is not required for this study, as it will use publicly available data only. The findings will be disseminated via publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
CRD42024621920.

PMID:
42551997
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 05 Aug 2026.

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