Knowledge, Attitude and Practices about Obesity Management among Saudi Board of Family Medicine Residents in Makkah Al-Mukarramah: A Cross-sectional Study

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Background: As obesity has become one of the most common health problems in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health launched an initiative as a part of KSA national transformation program aims to decrease the incidence of obesity and chronic diseases, by applying prevention strategies and provide proper management. Objectives: to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the joint program of family medicine candidates in Makkah regarding obesity management. Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among a representative sample of resident physicians of the joint program of family medicine Ministry of Health, Makkah city during January 2020. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used for data collection. It consists of four main sections; sociodemographic data, knowledge related questions, attitude related statements and practice related statements. Results: The study included 116 family medicine residents. Females represent 58.6% of them. Majority of the participants (98.3%) aged between 25 and 34 years. Obesity was reported among 13.8%; 8.6% class I and 5.2% class II. More than half of the family medicine residents (51.7%) had attended course or workshop about obesity and its management. More than half (57.8%) of the participants had good level of knowledge regarding obesity and its management, with the highest rate was observed among postgraduate year 2 (73.5%) whereas the lowest level was reported among those of PGY 1 (28.6%), p=0.003. Also, more than half (54.3%) expressed positive attitude towards obesity management, and this was steadily increasing with the advancing in residency level (p=0.016) and years of experience (0.011). Adequate practice regarding obesity management was observed among 61.2% of them. Obese residents had higher rate of adequate practice regarding obesity management, p=0.008. The commonest barriers faced by the resident physicians when managing patients with obesity were lack of training in obesity management (47.4%), lack of knowledge (45.7%), lack of effective referral system (39.7%) and lack of time (38.8%). Conclusion: Good Knowledge, positive attitude and adequate practice of the family medicine residents, Makkah regarding obesity and its management are moderate with some defective elements.