Weight History in Clinical Practice: The State of the Science and Future Directions

Robert F. Kushner, John A. Batsis, W. Scott Butsch, Nicola Davis, Angela Golden, Florencia Halperin, Srividya Kidambi, Sriram Machineni, Marsha Novick, Ava Port, Domenica M. Rubino, Katherine H. Saunders, Linda Shapiro Manning, Taraneh Soleymani, Scott Kahan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Eliciting a weight history can provide clinically important information to aid in treatment decision-making. This view is consistent with the life course perspective of obesity and the aim of patient-centered care, one of six domains of health care quality. However, thus far, the value and practicality of including a weight history in the clinical assessment and treatment of patients with obesity have not been systematically explored. For these reasons, the Clinical Committee of The Obesity Society established a task force to review and assess the available evidence to address five key questions. It is concluded that weight history is an essential component of the medical history for patients presenting with overweight or obesity, and there are strong and emerging data that demonstrate the importance of life stage, duration of exposure to obesity, maximum BMI, and group-based trajectory modeling in predicting risk for increased morbidity and mortality. Consideration of these and other patient-specific factors may improve risk stratification and clinical decision-making for screening, counseling, and management. Recommendations are provided for the key elements that should be included in a weight history, and several needs for future clinical research are outlined.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9-17
Number of pages9
JournalObesity
Volume28
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Endocrinology
  • Nutrition and Dietetics

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