Health professionals’ adherence to evidence-based obesity guidelines: a cohort study.
Abstract BACKGROUND The prevalence of obesity is on the increase worldwide and yet scientific evidence shows that primary care professionals are not adequately addressing overweight and obesity. In this study, we evaluate how obesity guidelines are being implemented in routine clinical practice. METHODS The study obtained the following data on a cohort of 209 obese patients attending primary care consultations: electronic medical records, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), cardiovascular risk factors, comorbidities and whether or not their health professional adhered to obesity evidence-based guidelines. RESULTS 57.9% of the participants were women and their average age was 65.8 ± 12.7 years. Only 25.4% of the medical records met all the criteria established in the therapeutic guidelines regarding diet prescription. This percentage was significantly higher in males than females (36.4% vs 17.4, p = 0.002). 1.4% met the criteria for physical activity and 1.5% for behavioural change activities. In the multivariate analysis, the variable associated with the most favourable BMI and WC figures, after adjusting for age, was a follow up by health professionals on physical activity (β=0.347, p=0.027, CI=0.429-6.868; β=0.367, p=0.024, CI=1.256-17.556) during routine check-ups with women. CONCLUSIONS We detected low adherence to the evidence-based guidelines among professionals. Recording dietetic prescription and physical exercise in the patient's medical record is associated with a better control of obesity. This data suggest that primary health care should be improved for obese patient.