Abstract
Background and Objectives Obesity is widely underdiagnosed among Asians, due in part to a lack of physician awareness of the modified diagnostic criteria for Asians. This study investigated the effect of a physician training on accurately diagnosing obesity among and providing weight counseling to overweight and obese Asian patients. Methods Physicians (N = 16) from five primary care practices received 1 h of face-to-face training and other reminder resources (e.g., wallet card) describing the guidelines for the diagnosis of overweight/obesity among Asians, as well as weight counseling instruction. Chart reviews of overweight/ obese Asian patients were conducted for the 12 months before the training (n = 198) and 3 months following the training (n = 163). Physician race (Asian/non-Asian) and clinic setting (private/academic) were included as outcome moderators. Results Patients were predominantly male (63.1 %), with a mean age of 46.0 years (SD = 14.9) and an average BMI of 28.2 (SD = 3.8). Across all physicians, 26.8 and 45.1 % of patients were accurately diagnosed as overweight or obese before and after the training, respectively (p < 0.05). The odds of a physician correctly diagnosing Asian patients as overweight or obese were 102 % higher at post-training after accounting for nesting of patients within physicians. Similarly, weight counseling was higher (65.0 %) following training compared to pre-training levels (43.9 %) but failed to reach significance (p = 0.06). Conclusions Accurate identification and counseling of overweight/obese Asian patients can be improved by education and training. Universal adoption of race-specific guidelines will ensure more successful weight management and reduced morbidity in a rapidly growing Asian population.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 322-328 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 29 2017 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Asian
- Counseling
- Diagnosis
- Obese
- Overweight
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Anthropology
- Sociology and Political Science
- Health Policy
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health