The nutritional knowledge and the perception of weight-loss strategies for obese patients among emergency medicine doctors in Hong Kong

Abstract

Introduction. Obesity is commonly seen in patients attending the emergency department (ED). Opportunities to provide nutritional advice to patients with obesity are often overlooked in ED settings. Numerous barriers and perceptions exist among healthcare professionals. This study aimed to explore the ED physicians' attitudes, practices, nutritional knowledge and barriers towards nutrition advice in weight management for obese patients in the ED. Methods. This was a cross-sectional survey conducted from February to April 2024. The self-designed questionnaire consisted of questions regarding respondents' characteristics, attitudes, practices and barriers towards providing nutrition advice for obese patients in the ED and assessing the knowledge of nutrition among ED doctors. Non-parametric tests and Pearson correlation were performed for statistical analysis. The responses between doctors with normal body mass index (BMI) and extreme BMI groups (BMI < 18.5 and BMI > 25.0) were compared. Results. This study included 120 responses with a response rate of 16.9%. The mean nutritional knowledge score for doctors with normal BMI was 54.4 +/- 14.5, and it was significantly higher than that of doctors who self-reported as underweight (46.3 +/- 5.6 and p = 0.049) or overweight (48.9 +/- 16.1 and p = 0.029). The top barrier to nutrition support for obese patients in ED settings was too busy to give nutrition advice (77.5%). Conclusions. Our study highlighted the common barriers to offering nutritional advice and insufficient nutrition training among ED physicians. Integrating comprehensive nutrition education into our undergraduate medical training and providing regular evidence-based nutritional courses may improve patients' and physicians' health.