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. 2023 Mar 28;40(2):322-329.
doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmac092.

Prelude to PATHWEIGH: pragmatic weight management in primary care

Jessica Wild  1 , Alexander Kaizer  1 , Emileigh Willems  1 , Erik Seth Kramer  2 , Leigh Perreault  3
Affiliations

Prelude to PATHWEIGH: pragmatic weight management in primary care

Jessica Wild et al. Fam Pract. .

Abstract

Objective: Treatment of obesity-related diseases, rather than obesity itself, remains the mainstay of medical care. The current study examined a novel approach that prioritizes weight management in primary care to shift this paradigm.

Methods: PATHWEIGH is a weight management approach consisting of staff team training, workflow system management, and data capture from tools built into the electronic medical record (EPIC). PATHWEIGH was compared to standard of care (SOC) using two family medicine clinics in the same US healthcare system. Descriptive statistics compared patient-, provider-, and clinic-level factors between the groups among those with at least one weight-prioritized visit (WPV) and one follow-up weight over 14 months.

Results: Groups were similar in terms of total patient visits (7,353 vs. 7,984) and patients eligible for a WPV (i.e. >18 years + body mass index >25 kg/m2; 3,746 vs. 3,008, PATHWEIGH vs. SOC, respectively). However, more PATHWEIGH clinic patients (15.9% vs. 8.4%; P < 0.001) received at least one WPV. Although no difference was observed for average patient weight loss over 14 months (P = 0.991), the number of WPVs per patient was higher in PATHWEIGH (P < 0.001) and significantly associated with weight loss (P = 0.001), with an average decrease in weight of 0.55 kg per additional visit.

Conclusions: Results from the current study demonstrate early success in changing the paradigm from treating weight-related comorbidities to treating weight in primary care.

Keywords: obesity; obesity management; patient education; primary health care; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

LP has received personal fees for consulting and/or speaking from Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Medscape, WebMD, and UpToDate. JW, AK, EW, and ESK have no conflicts to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Flow chart of patient population from overall to those meeting inclusion criteria for the prelude.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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