Obesity Assessment and Education Through the Internet

Despite the high prevalence of obesity and its associated health risks, physicians do not address weight and behaviors that contribute to obesity because of lack of knowledge, training, and access to resources. To address these physician barriers to counseling, the investigator has developed a web-based tool that collects and integrates relevant patient clinical and behavioral information online and generates patient-specific recommendations and links to resources in the form of electronic patient and physician reports. In doing so, the tool provides physicians with a time saving device that identifies at risk patients who are motivated to make behavioral changes; at the same time, the tool provides tailored resources and recommendations that help physicians deliver more effective counseling.

The pilot study described in this application randomizes overweight primary care patients to a control group and the web-based intervention. The aims of the study are to examine the feasibility of incorporating the web-based tool into primary care practice and to collect preliminary data on its potential effectiveness on improving the rate and quality of physician-patient discussions about weight and on improving several clinical and behavioral outcomes.

Inclusion criteria

• Received invitation from participating primary care practices
• Scheduled non-urgent appointment with their usual primary care provider
• BMI > 25 kg/m2
• Willing and able to participate in a web-based computerized self-administered questionnaire
• English-speaking

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnancy
• Terminal illness
• Not competent to give consent