Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. Feb 8, 2017; 6(1): 60-68
Published online Feb 8, 2017. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v6.i1.60
Understanding academic clinicians’ intent to treat pediatric obesity
Claudia Frankfurter, Charles Cunningham, Katherine M Morrison, Heather Rimas, Karen Bailey
Claudia Frankfurter, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada
Charles Cunningham, Heather Rimas, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3K7, Canada
Katherine M Morrison, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada
Karen Bailey, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada
Author contributions: Frankfurter C was responsible for the acquisition of the data and drafting of the manuscript; Cunningham C was responsible for the study conception and design, acquisition and analysis of the data, and manuscript revision; Morrison KM was responsible for study concept and design, and manuscript revision; Rimas H was responsible for acquisition and analysis of data, and manuscript revision; Bailey K was responsible for study conception and design, acquisition and analysis of data, and manuscript revision; all authors have approved the manuscript as submitted.
Supported by the Hamilton Health Sciences New Investigator Award, No. NIF-N10-240; the McMaster Surgical Associates Innovation Grant; the Jack Laidlaw Chair in Patient-Centered Health Care; and the McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board.
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed consent prior to the start of any study procedures.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Karen Bailey, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada. kbailey@mcmaster.ca
Telephone: +1-905-5212100-73550 Fax: +1-905-5219992
Received: May 21, 2016
Peer-review started: May 23, 2016
First decision: July 4, 2016
Revised: July 29, 2016
Accepted: October 25, 2016
Article in press: October 27, 2016
Published online: February 8, 2017
Abstract
AIM

To examine the extent to which the theory of planned behavior (TPB) predicts academic clinicians’ intent to treat pediatric obesity.

METHODS

A multi-disciplinary panel iteratively devised a Likert scale survey based on the constructs of the TPB applied to a set of pediatric obesity themes. A cross-sectional electronic survey was then administered to academic clinicians at tertiary care centers across Canada from January to April 2012. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic and item agreement data. A hierarchical linear regression analysis controlling for demographic variables was conducted to examine the extent to which the TPB subscales predicted intent to treat pediatric obesity.

RESULTS

A total of 198 physicians, surgeons, and allied health professionals across Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec) completed the survey. On step 1, demographic factors accounted for 7.4% of the variance in intent scores. Together in step 2, demographic variables and TPB subscales predicted 56.9% of the variance in a measure of the intent to treat pediatric obesity. Perceived behavioral control, that is, confidence in one’s ability to manage pediatric obesity, and subjective norms, congruent with one’s context of practice, were the most significant predictors of the intent to treat pediatric obesity. Attitudes and barriers did not predict the intent to treat pediatric obesity in this context.

CONCLUSION

Enhancing self-confidence in the ability to treat pediatric obesity and the existence of supportive treatment environments are important to increase clinicians’ intent to treat pediatric obesity.

Keywords: Pediatric obesity, Therapeutics, Intention, Decision Making, Behavior

Core tip: Clinicians play an integral role in diagnosing and managing childhood obesity. This study examined how the theory of planned behavior (TPB) predicted academic clinicians’ intent to treat pediatric obesity. Demographic variables and TPB subscales predicted 56.9% of the variance in intent scores amongst health professionals to treat pediatric obesity. One’s practice context (subjective norms) and confidence in one’s ability to manage pediatric obesity (perceived behavioral control) were the most significant predictors of intent. Attitudes and barriers did not predict intent. The TPB can be applied to strengthen clinical training programs targeted towards management of obesity in children.