Can placing posters increase awareness to pediatric obesity in a Pediatric Emergency Department?

Abstract

Background: Identification and addressing of pediatric obesity are the first steps in its management, and Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) visits have a potential to increase its awareness. The main aim of this study was to examine if posters placed in the PED alerting to obesity increased its documentation.

Methods: The design of this paper is that of an interventional study which took place at a large tertiary PED during May-August 2022. Obesity listing in PED charts of children with obesity was defined as weight percentile >90 and examined over two weeks before poster placement, during four weeks of display, and for four weeks after their removal. Logistic mixed models were used to examine the associations between several factors and obesity documentation.

Results: During the whole study period, there were 4174 PED visits of children aged >2 that had body weight data, of which 590 (14.2%) had obesity. Obesity addressing in charts of children with obesity was found in 2/134 (1.5%) before poster placement, 7/229 (3.1%) during placement, and 10/227 (4.4%) after removal, but this 2-3-fold increase was not statistically significant (P=0.313). There were only 28 scans of a QR code on the poster that offered obesity treatment options, and only two parents filled its questionnaire.

Conclusions: Poster placement could possibly improve obesity discussion in the PED, yet larger samples and additional techniques are needed.