title: Missing documentation of weight and height at preventive visits for children.
abstract: Despite the importance of measuring weight and height at well-child visits, there are limited data on frequency of anthropometric documentation. The authors aimed to identify characteristics associated with missing weight and height documentation at preventive visits for children. Among preventive visits for children from birth to 18 years old, recorded in the National Ambulatory Medical Care and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys for 2005-2009, the authors found that 20.8% had missing weight and/or height (n = 19,033) documentation. Compared with infants younger than 2 years, school-age children (odds ratio [OR] = 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03-1.64), and adolescents (OR = 1.61; 95% CI = 1.26-2.04) were more likely to lack documentation. Missing documentation was also more likely for visits with nonphysicians (OR = 4.53; 95% CI = 3.17-6.48) and nonpediatricians (OR = 2.63; 95% CI = 2.02-3.41) compared with pediatricians. Efforts to improve weight and height surveillance should be directed to clinics in which midlevel providers and nonpediatric physicians are caring for school-age children and adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA. BurmanNa@peds.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Natalie J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Burman
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cabana
authors.forename: Judith H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Maselli
authors.forename: Joan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Hilton
authors.forename: Anisha I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Patel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States