Paediatric obesity: Documentation, screening, and pharmacotherapy in a national cohort
Authors' conclusion
Management of obesity in terms of documentation of disease, screening for comorbidities, and initiation of AOM continues to fall short of the guidelines put forth by multiple organizations. Race/ethnicity, sex, and BMI correlate with differences in care provided to obese paediatric patients. Further research is needed to identify the barriers to and causes of these disparities.
Study context
- Population
- Patients 9 years 4 months to 17 years 6 months of age with BMI >30 or >95th percentile on three separate outpatient encounters
- Participants
- 35,898 patients
- Outcome
- Diagnostic code for obesity; screening for hyperlipidaemia, NAFLD and T2D; prescription of anti-obesity medications (AOM)
Methodological detailsnational cohort, TriNetX database, logistic regression
- National cohort
- TriNetX database
- Logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Associations of demographics with obesity diagnosis, comorbidity screening and AOM prescription
- Asian, Black and Hispanic youths had increased odds of obesity diagnosis and of screening for all three comorbidities
- Documentation of obesity associated with increased odds of screening for all comorbidities
- Female sex, documentation of obesity and higher BMIs associated with increased odds of anti-obesity medications (AOM) prescription
- Black and Native American races decreased the likelihood of AOM prescription
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Paediatric obesity: Documentation, screening, and pharmacotherapy in a national cohort. Pediatr Obes. Published 5 April 2023. doi:10.
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