The Effect of an Automated Clinical Reminder on Weight Loss in Primary Care

Abstract

Background: Overweight and obese individuals have increased health risks. Clinical reminders positively affect health outcomes in diabetes and osteoporosis, but the effect of automated prompts on weight loss in obesity has not been studied. Our objective was to determine whether an automatic prompt for the clinician to recommend lifestyle changes to patients with a body mass index (BMI) >25 kg/m 2 led to greater weight loss over a 3-to 6-month interval compared with the absence of a clinical reminder.Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic medical records of obese adult patients with a BMI >25 kg/m 2 who were seen in 2009 and 2010, before and after implementation of an automated printed clinical reminder, respectively. We evaluated 1600 patients in each of the control and intervention groups. The primary outcome was the mean change in BMI between the control and intervention groups. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the effect of the clinical reminder on the change in BMI while adjusting for baseline BMI and potential confounding factors.Results: The reduction in BMI (mean ؎ standard deviation) in the group with the clinical reminder (؊0.084 ؎ 1.56 kg/m

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