Table 2.

Self-Rated Physician Competency of Individual Survey Items (% Inadequate Competency)*

	Competency item	All specialties	Psychiatry	Pediatrics	Internal medicine	P value
Assess	Use 24-hour recall, food record, or food frequency to obtain diet history	65	67	46	73	0.006
	Determine body mass index (BMI) from weight and height measurements	19	32	11	12	0.001
	Assess diet for common unhealthy behaviors associated with obesity (e.g., sweetened beverages, nutritional quality of snacks, frequent meals from fast food restaurants, etc.)	21	28	6.5	22	<.001
	Ascertain each patient’s readiness and ability to work on weight loss according to health beliefs and stage of change	38	49	31	33	0.004
	Recognize and screen for common psychosocial problems in obese patients including depression, emotional eating, binge eating	26	14	31	33	<.001
	Take a targeted history and conduct a physical examination to identify common co-morbidities (e.g., arthritis, diabetes, PCOS…)	29	53	18	14	<.001
Advise	Discuss the effect of obesity on present and future health and personalize risk to each patient	21	32	9.7	16	<.001
	Respond to a patient’s questions regarding treatment options including behavior change, medications, and surgery	48	52	45	46	0.658
Agree	Assess current level of physical activity and provide guidance for setting physical activity goals for optimal health	34	48	31	25	0.002
	Assist patient in setting realistic goals for weight loss based on making permanent lifestyle changes	40	50	36	33	0.018
	Prescribe plan for exercise/physical activity	44	50	44	39	0.135
Assist	Use motivational interviewing to change behavior	59	54	61	62	0.794
	Provide brief counseling intervention to help patient lose weight	39	44	32	38	0.1
Arrange	Recognize and refer patients with eating disorders	28	11	31	42	<.001
	Collaborate with registered dieticians and refer to community nutrition resources when appropriate	37	44	20	40	0.002

* not able to perform the item well