Instruments to Measure Readiness to Lose Weight: An Integrative Review

Background and Purpose: Obesity is a modifiable risk factor associated with multiple disease states. The purpose of this integrative review is to synthesize instruments measuring participants' readiness to lose weight. Methods: The CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO databases were searched; 1,048 manuscripts were initially retrieved. Results: There were 11 studies retained. Eight reported moderate to strong validity; however, reliability was not reported in two studies. Overall, sample heterogeneity was limited, reducing generalizability across more diverse populations. In conjunction with readiness to lose weight, some instruments focused on additional attributes. Conclusions: An overview of instruments for assessing or monitoring readiness to lose weight is provided. Gaps in the literature included a lack of scales focusing on overweight, but not obese individuals, and male participants.