Primary Care Providers Welcome Smartphone Apps That Assist in Pediatric Weight Management.
Primary care providers (PCPs) have few resources to manage their overweight/obese patients. The purpose of study was to determine if technological resources, such as smartphone apps, may be useful for weight management counseling. PCPs were surveyed about their current use of resources for obesity management and whether smartphone apps would be helpful. Seventy-four PCPs completed the survey. Only 15% currently referred patients to smartphone apps at least sometimes or more often. When asked about features of apps, 66% were not aware of apps with interactive healthy eating games, yet if aware, 45% reported they would refer patients. Providers reported a greater likelihood of being more effective using an app compared with their current ability to manage overweight/obesity, 3.19 versus 2.85, P < .01. The majority of pediatric providers surveyed do not provide technological resources for their overweight/obese patients; yet, they appear interested in using smartphone apps as a resource.
['B SanGiovanni|Christine|C|0000-0003-4799-1035', 'Morella|Kristen|K|', 'Roberts|James Russell|JR|']
D000293:Adolescent D015992:Body Mass Index D002648:Child D019468:Disease Management D005260:Female D019538:Health Care Surveys D006801:Humans D008297:Male D063731:Mobile Applications D063766:Pediatric Obesity D011320:Primary Health Care D011379:Prognosis D000068997:Smartphone D017216:Telemedicine D016896:Treatment Outcome D015431:Weight Loss
weight management technology pediatric obesity