Rural Obesity Medical Education for Primary Care in West Virginia: A Needs Assessment

Abstract

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Obesity is a serious disease associated with adverse health effects and costs, West Virgini(WV) has one of the highest obesity rates in the nation. Addressing obesity largely falls on primary care practitioners, but many feel ill -equipped to counsel patients on weight loss. It is critical for clinicians to be adequately trained to treat obesity, We conducted this study to assess the obesity medical education needs of WV primary care practices. METHODS Data was collected from 17 health systems through W/V Practice-Based Research Network's Collective Outreach and Research Engagement survey. Survey results were analyzed using descriptive statistics to summarize demographics; obesity treatment knowledge and confidence, topics of interest; and preferred educational delivery methods. RESULTS The majority of respondents agreed that medical training in obesity should be strengthened (96.4%). Relatively low confidence levels were reported for prescribing anti-obesity medications (49,4%), optimizing chronic medications for weight (61.0%), and counseling/managing patients before/after bariatric surgery (52,4%). Highest reported interest levels were in strategies for discussing weight with patients (87.2%), food and nutrition (85.7%), physical activity plans (84.4%), motivational interviewing (84.0%), and optimizing chronic medications for weight (79,2%). The highest rated educational delivery method was virtual Continuing Medical Education (91.5%) with lecture format (89.0%). CONCLUSIONS These results can be used to develop obesity medical education for primary care that can ultimately help to reduce health disparities in rural WV. An educational plan should ideally be delivered in virtual lecture format and should address lifestyle modifications, motivational interviewing, bariatric surgery, and obesity pharmacotherapy.