Recording of overweight and obesity as a health problem by primary care pediatricians in an electronic medical record

Abstract

Introduction. Under-diagnosis and underrecording of overweight and obesity in pediatrics is very common. Using an electronic medical record may be helpful. The objective was to establish the percentage of recording of this problem by primary care pediatricians and analyze if it was associated with the performance of ancillary tests. Methods. Cross-sectional study. The recording of this problem among overweight and obese pediatric patients and the presence of blood glucose, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol results in obese patients were assessed. Results. A total of 7471 overweight and obese patients were included; this health problem was adequately recorded in only 19 %. Among all obese patients (n = 1957), 44 % had adequate recording of this health problem; 32 % had lab test results showing a significant association among outcome measures. Conclusions. The percentage of overweight and obesity recording and ancillary test performance was low. Recording was associated with a higher level of test ordering.