Patient use of weight-management activities: a comparison of patient and physician assessments.
OBJECTIVE
Examine concordance between patient and physician assessments of patient self-reported use of weight-management activities.


METHODS
Analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlled trial of patient and physician interventions to improve patient-physician communication (41 physicians and 274 of their patients).


RESULTS
A majority of patients reported regular exercise (55.6%) and efforts to lose weight, such as eating less (63.1%) while physicians only perceived one-third of patients as engaging in those activities (exercise, 36.6%; weight loss, 33.3%). Kappa scores indicated small agreement between patient and physician assessments of patient self-reported use of exercise, mean kappa 0.28 (range 0.15 to 0.40) and no agreement between patient and physician assessments of patient self-reported efforts to lose weight, mean kappa -0.14 (range -0.26 to -0.01). Obese patients were more likely than non-obese patients to report trying to lose weight or exercising regularly (p<0.05), but physicians were less likely to perceive obese patients as engaging in those activities (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Primary care physicians differed considerably from their patients, especially obese patients, in their assessments of patient use of weight-management activities.


CONCLUSIONS
These results highlight the importance of improving patient-provider communication about weight-management activities, particularly among obese patients.
Bleich
Sara N
SN
Department of Health Policy and Management, Baltimore,MD 21205, USA. sbleich@jhsph.edu
Huizinga
Mary Margaret
MM
Beach
Mary Catherine
MC
Cooper
Lisa A
LA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003142:Communication; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss