--- abstract: |- Purpose: Despite the associated health consequences, obesity is infrequently documented as a problem in medical charts. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a simple intervention (routine listing of the BMI on the medical chart) will increase physician documentation of obesity in the medical record. Methods: Participants were resident physicians in a family medicine residency program. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. For experimental group physicians, the Body Mass Index was listed alongside other vital signs of patients seen in an ambulatory setting. Physician documentation of patient obesity was assessed by chart review after patient visits. Documentation was defined as inclusion of obesity on the problem list or in the progress note. Results: The intervention did not significantly increase the rate of documentation of obesity in the medical chart. Several reasons for the lack of change are explored, including the difficulty of treating obesity successfully. altloc: - http://www.med-ed-online.org/res00039.htm chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: [] creators_name: - family: Clothier given: ' Norm' honourific: '' lineage: MD - family: Marvel given: Kim honourific: '' lineage: PhD - family: Cruickshank given: Courtney S. honourific: '' lineage: MS date: 2002-09 date_type: published datestamp: 2002-08-31 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/24/42 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: ~ edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: [] eprint_status: archive eprintid: 2442 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/2442/1/res00039.pdf full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: "medical education, BMI, documentation of obesity, medical record, documentation of vital signs\n" lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:59 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: 6 pagerange: ~ pubdom: FALSE publication: Medical Education Online publisher: ~ refereed: TRUE referencetext: |2 1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity. [Rockville, MD]: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General; [2001]. Available from: US GPO, Washington. 2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults Washington: Government Printing Office, 1998. 3. Rippe JM, McInnis KJ & Melanson KJ. Physician Involvement in the Management of Obesity as a Primary Medical Condition. Obesity Research, 2001;9:S302-S31. 4. Nawaz H, Adams ML, & Katz DL. Weight loss counseling by health care providers. American Journal of Public Health., 1999;89,5:764-767. 5. Sciamanna CN, Tate DF, Lang W & Wing RR. Who reports receiving advice to lose weight? Archives of Internal Medicine. 2000;160: 2334-2339. 6. Campbell, DT, Stanley JC. Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Rand -Mcnally Publishing CO, Chicago. 1963. 7. Logue EE & Smucker WD. Obesity Management in Primary Care. The Journal of Family Practice. 2001;50(6): 520. 8. Robinson MD, Laurent SL, & Little JM. Including Smoking Status as a New Vital Sign: It Works! The Journal of Family Practice. 1995: 40(6): 556-561. relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ~ rev_number: 12 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:44:51 subjects: - meo-peer succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: Does Presenting Patients’ BMI Increase Documentation of Obesity? type: journale userid: 3283 volume: 7