An exploratory look at comorbidities, utilization, and quality of care among obese and nonobese children in academic family medicine practice.

Abstract

BackgroundObesity is one of the least addressed comorbidities among children who attend family medicine clinics. The aim of this study was to apply a population health framework to understand the differences between obese and nonobese pediatric patients in academic family medicine practice with regard to general demographics, comorbidities, and quality measures.MethodsExploratory retrospective chart reviews were conducted among obese children aged 2–17 years and a random sample of age-matched nonobese children in 2015. Data were gathered through the institute's electronic medical record system and included demographics, ICD-10 diagnosis codes, outpatient primary care and specialty care visits, in-network emergency department visits, and in-network hospital admissions.ResultsThis exploratory study suggested that the obese pediatric population (n = 213) had a high prevalence of hypertension (P = .006) and sleep apnea (P = .05) and a larger number of diagnosed comorbidities (P = .008), whereas nonobese children had a high prevalence of environmental allergies (P = .001). There were no significant differences among quality measures between obese (n = 213) and age-matched nonobese pediatric patients (n = 219).ConclusionThis study used readily available electronic health record data to highlight comorbidities that are more common among obese pediatric patients in academic family medicine practice, thus providing information that could potentially facilitate more timely screening and intervention.