Abstracts / Posters
Weight/BMI screening and availability of patient education literature in general practice
Accepted for poster presentation, Diabetes UK 2003
The Counterweight Project Team
Introduction: Practice Nurses (PNs) provide weight management screening and advice, an essential component of diabetes management. Little is known about level of screening and accessibility to necessary tools.
Methods: Recording of weight/BM I was assessed by searching computerised medical records (n= 182, 474) in 40 Counterweight practices (UK, 7-centre UK obesity project). Availability of weighing scales and height measures were assessed along with source and accessibility of patient literature.
Results: Women were more likely than men to have a weight (69.2%: 57.0%; P<0.0001) or BMI (70.6%: 57.7%; P<0.0001) ever recorded. Equipment found in consulting rooms was: weighing scales (96%), height measures (89%), and accessible literature (36%). 65 leaflet types were found (mean 3.8 leaflets/practice, range 0-8). Literature was from food or pharmaceutical industries (37%), local sources (26%) and Health Education Authority (18.5%), with small proportions from Health Education Board Scotland (6%), popular press (5%), Diabetes UK (1.5%), World Cancer Research Fund (1.5%), British Hypertension Society (1.5%) and unknown sources (3%).
Conclusion: An improvement in recording of weight and BMI is a priority to meet targets for diabetes prevention and control. Patient literature was variable in source, accessibility and quality.