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Physical symptoms screening for cardiopulmonary complications of obesity using audio computer-assisted self-interviews

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Abstract

Purpose

The main study objective was to assess the predictive value of selected physical symptoms for screening obstructive sleep apnea and major cardiac conditions in adults with obesity, thus providing the evidence for routine symptom screening of obesity complications endorsed by obesity management clinical practice guidelines.

Methods

We performed a retrospective cohort study using patient-reported outcomes data including the physical symptoms severity component of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale administered through Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviews combined with data from the electronic medical records of an urban safety-net primary care clinic. Non-underweight ambulatory patients completing the standardized survey assessment were included. The prevalence of pre-selected symptoms and the diagnostic characteristics at various severity cut-points were determined for obstructive sleep apnea or major cardiac conditions separately for patients with and without obesity.

Results

Of the 1399 patients included in this analysis, most (77%) were non-hispanic black or hispanic. Step-wise increases in positive likelihood ratios ranging between 1.2 and 4.6 with greater severity cough, dyspnea, fatigue, bloating, dizziness, and nausea were observed for both obstructive sleep apnea and major cardiac complications. Likelihood ratio estimates for both obese and non-obese patients were statistically significant.

Conclusions

Our findings provide a basis to support current guideline recommendations for routine symptom screening to identify medical complications among patients with BMI 30 kg/m2 or greater.

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Acknowledgements

This study received funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R24 HS19481-01) to support technology implementation.

Author contributions

WT and KH contributed to study design, data collection, and data analysis. All authors contributed to data interpretation, literature search, generation of tables, drafting, and approval of the submitted manuscript.

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Correspondence to Keiki Hinami.

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Conflict of interest

All authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical approval

All study procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards approved by the CCHHS institutional review board.

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Morales-Estrella, J.L., Ciftci, F.D., Trick, W.E. et al. Physical symptoms screening for cardiopulmonary complications of obesity using audio computer-assisted self-interviews. Qual Life Res 26, 2085–2092 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1549-x

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