TY - JOUR
T1 - Making every contact count: recognising obesity in paediatric and young adult cardiology.
AU - Smith, Aaron
AU - Bharucha, Tara
AU - Marino, Luise
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2021/5/11
Y1 - 2021/5/11
N2 - Introduction: With increased survival, children with CHD are reaching adulthood, however, obesity amongst this cohort is an emerging problem. Making every contact count encourages clinicians to utilise contact to elicit behaviour change. The aim of this work was to identify whether the body habitus of children classified as obese was addressed during a clinical review. Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was completed using a cardiology outpatient dataset from 2010 to 2019. Inclusion criteria are all children with a body mass index z score classified as obese (≥ 2 z scores). Individual electronic patient records were reviewed to identify long-term anthropometric measures including (i) recognition of body habitus, (ii) prescription of physical activity or dietary intervention, and (iii) referral to a weight management programme or dietitian. Results: From the cohort of 95 patients, 285 "obese clinical encounters"were identified, at the time of a cardiology clinic attendance. Of those, obesity was acknowledged in 25 clinic letters (8.65%), but only 8 used the correct terms "obese"or "obesity"(2.77%). Action to tackle obesity was recorded in 9.3% of cases with a direct referral to a dietitian being made on 3 occasions (1.04%). Conclusions: Body habitus is not being routinely addressed by cardiologists caring for paediatric and young adult cardiac patients. This study has recognised an alarmingly high incidence of missed opportunities to make every contact count, to manage those with obesity and associated risk factors.
AB - Introduction: With increased survival, children with CHD are reaching adulthood, however, obesity amongst this cohort is an emerging problem. Making every contact count encourages clinicians to utilise contact to elicit behaviour change. The aim of this work was to identify whether the body habitus of children classified as obese was addressed during a clinical review. Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was completed using a cardiology outpatient dataset from 2010 to 2019. Inclusion criteria are all children with a body mass index z score classified as obese (≥ 2 z scores). Individual electronic patient records were reviewed to identify long-term anthropometric measures including (i) recognition of body habitus, (ii) prescription of physical activity or dietary intervention, and (iii) referral to a weight management programme or dietitian. Results: From the cohort of 95 patients, 285 "obese clinical encounters"were identified, at the time of a cardiology clinic attendance. Of those, obesity was acknowledged in 25 clinic letters (8.65%), but only 8 used the correct terms "obese"or "obesity"(2.77%). Action to tackle obesity was recorded in 9.3% of cases with a direct referral to a dietitian being made on 3 occasions (1.04%). Conclusions: Body habitus is not being routinely addressed by cardiologists caring for paediatric and young adult cardiac patients. This study has recognised an alarmingly high incidence of missed opportunities to make every contact count, to manage those with obesity and associated risk factors.
KW - Congenital heart disease
KW - children
KW - making every contact count
KW - nutrition
KW - obesity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105919777&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/98ef60bd-4193-350d-afe5-17f8de91d2bb/
U2 - 10.1017/S1047951121001566
DO - 10.1017/S1047951121001566
M3 - Article
JO - Cardiology in the Young
JF - Cardiology in the Young
SN - 1047-9511
ER -