Table 1.

Patient and Visit Characteristics for Patients in Weight-Related Discussions^* (n = 320)

Patient characteristics
Baseline weight, kg (mean [SD])	93.9 (21.2)
Obese (BMI ≥30)	61 (194)
Race
White/Asian	61 (196)
African American	39 (124)
Male	34 (108)
Age, years (mean [SD])	58.4 (13.3)
>High school education (missing 1)†	68 (217)
Economic security: can pay bills easily (missing 11)	88 (272)
Medical history
Diabetes	33 (104)
Hypertension	68 (217)
Hyperlipidemia (missing 1)	56(180)
Arthritis	43 (136)
Weight loss
Very motivated to lose weight versus somewhat to not at all‡	58 (184)
Very confident can lose weight versus somewhat to not at all confident§	36 (115)
Very comfortable discussing weight with physician versus somewhat to not at all¶	73 (234)
Tried to lose weight during past month	49 (158)
Visit factors (n = 320)
Total patient-medical personnel in-room time, min (mean [SD])	25.9 (10.2)
Total time spent discussing weight, min (mean [SD])	4.2 (3.4)
Who initiated the weight discussion?
Physician	36 (115)
Patient	64 (205)
Weight not discussed	0 (0)
Type of encounter (missing 2)
Preventive	39 (123)
Chronic care	61 (195)
Explicit weight discussion	76 (242)

Values provided as % (n) unless otherwise indicated.

^*Patients were considered “counseled” when physicians used motivational interviewing techniques when discussing weight.

^†Missing data at baseline (counseled sample).

^‡Motivation to lose weight/address weight (1 = not at all, 7 = very much).

^§Self-efficacy to lose weight/address weight (1 = not at all confident, 5 = very confident).

^¶Comfort discussing weight (1 = not at all comfortable, 5 = very comfortable).

BMI, body mass index.