Abstract
Obesity is increasing in the United States and is contributing to other chronic health conditions including heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus type 2, and certain cancers. Obesity exerts a large financial and social burden on the United States and also affects quality of life and life expectancy. Research has shown that documentation of obesity is the greatest predictor of medical intervention for obesity. There is a need for accurate obesity diagnosis and intervention in primary care. Currently, primary care providers are not consistently utilizing or adhering to best practice guidelines concerning obesity in adults. The setting was an employer sponsored primary care clinic in rural Nebraska. The chart audit included adult patients aged 19-65 who had a BMI greater than or equal to 30. There were 336 charts reviewed prior to the education program and 315 charts reviewed after the education program. The design of this study was a 10 week pre-/post chart review. Patient charts were reviewed for 10 weeks prior to and 10 weeks after staff receiving obesity guideline education. Outcome measures included documentation of height, weight, BMI, obesity diagnosis, physical activity intervention, diet intervention, and medication intervention. Pre-education chart review shows a 3.4% rate of documented obesity diagnosis, physical activity intervention, and diet intervention for adult patients meeting obesity diagnosis criteria. Post-education chart review revealed an 83.2% rate of documented obesity diagnosis, physical activity intervention, and diet intervention for adult patients meeting obesity diagnosis criteria. Implementation of the education program about obesity clinical practice guidelines has increased provider awareness of obesity in the clinic population and may have contributed to increased obesity diagnosis and documented intervention. This project provides further support that clinical guideline education for providers and staff as well as engagement strategy education may facilitate increased obesity diagnosis and intervention.