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Monday, 18 November 2013: 3:15 PM
Learning Objective 1: The learners will be able to describe the impact of obesity on the selected clinical characteristics among African-American female patients who attend nurse managed clinics
Learning Objective 2: The learners will be able to formulate one implication to their area of practice or practice setting using the data and findings from the presentation
The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of obesity and selected clinical characteristics associated with obesity among adult African-American (AA) females who attend two nurse managed clinics (NMCs). These clinics provide healthcare services to primarily minority patients residing in the adjacent urban neighborhoods. A descriptive cross sectional study reviewed the charts of a random number of adult (>18years) AA female patients who during the previous 12 months attended a For Profit (n=149) or Free (n=152) NMC. Data collectors extracted from each subjects healthcare record their age, marital status, education, height, weight, resting heart rate, blood pressure, results of a lipid profile (TCHOL, HDL, TRI, LDL) blood glucose, HgA1C, number of prescribed medications and diagnosed health problems or ICD-9 code listed on chart’s the active problem list. 59% of the sample were obese, 19% were overweight. The sample from the For Profit and Free clinics exhibited similar clinical characteristics but the For Profit clinic sample was on average seven years younger, was prescribed 5.63 more medications and was being treated for 2.14 more diagnoses. Obese patients exhibited higher blood pressure, lower HDLs, higher LDLs, a greater number of prescribed medications, diagnoses and were on average 3.88 years younger compared with non-obese patients. Odds ratios indicated that being obese rather than non-obese increases the detrimental clinical progression of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, HDLs, blood glucose, the number of medications and the number of diagnoses. These findings are consistent with previous literatures on the prevalence of obesity among AA females and that the increased body weight increases the odds of developing detrimental clinical progressions among these patients. Nurses in urban NMCs need to be aware of the impact obesity has on the patient’s clinical characteristics, and to treat obesity more vigorously to achieve desired patient care outcomes.
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See more of: Oral Paper & Poster: Evidence-Based Practice Sessions