Willingness for weight loss intervention among overweight and obese inpatients.

Objectives: To determine whether overweight and obese inpatients are receptive to weight-loss interventions while hospitalized and whether interest in weight-loss intervention correlates with accurate self-perception of weight.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of overweight and obese patients admitted to the general medicine service at a large urban academic medical center from September 17, 2007 through October 16, 2007. Subjects were identified based on body mass index (BMI) on admission ≥25 and surveyed using a 14-question instrument. The main outcome measure was patient willingness to consider weight-loss intervention.

Results: Of 67 eligible patients, 64 (95.5%) agreed to be interviewed. BMI ranged from 25 to 50. Overall, 52.6% (10 of 19) of overweight patients did not believe they were overweight and 46.7% (21 of 45) of those with a BMI over 30 were unaware that they met criteria for obesity. Among all patients surveyed, 56.3% stated they would be interested in weight-loss intervention while hospitalized. In obese patients specifically, 68.9% expressed interest. Interest correlated with BMI (Pearson correlation coefficient (r) = 0.261, P = 0.04), accurate self-perception of weight (P = 0.03), diagnostic delays related to weight (P = 0.01) and a history of past weight-loss attempts (P = 0.04). None of the patients we interviewed received weight-loss intervention of any kind while hospitalized.

Conclusion: Inpatients who recognize that they are overweight or obese are interested in pursuing weight-loss initiatives. Despite their interest, most do not receive weight-loss interventions while hospitalized.