Increasing patient attendance in a pediatric obesity clinic: a quality improvement project

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Public Health
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Intensive lifestyle interventions are effective for treating childhood obesity.
• Patient retention is crucial for the success of these interventions.
• Childhood obesity requires effective strategies to ensure long-term patient engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve patient retention in a pediatric obesity clinic.
• To increase follow-up attendance rates by 10% through a quality improvement project.
• To identify effective strategies for enhancing patient adherence in childhood obesity treatment programs.

Main Methods:

• A pretest-posttest design was employed to evaluate the intervention's impact.
• Data collection included three months of baseline followed by 52 weeks of intervention data.
• Descriptive statistics and Fisher's exact test were used for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Follow-up patient attendance increased significantly from 69% to 81%.
• The observed improvement in attendance was statistically significant (z=1.76, p=.039).
• The quality improvement project demonstrated a measurable increase in patient engagement.

Conclusions:

• Simple and inexpensive interventions can substantially improve attendance rates for obese children.
• Effective strategies exist to enhance patient follow-up in childhood obesity clinics.
• Quality improvement initiatives can lead to significant positive outcomes in pediatric obesity management.