Skip to main content
. 2018 Nov 23;18:278. doi: 10.1186/s12909-018-1380-2

Table 4.

Correlation of practitioners’ characteristics with changes in perceived skills and professional attitudes after the obesity day (pre-post activity surveys)

Practitioners characteristics
Gender1 Age Range Physicians vs other HCP2 Years of practice
Change in Perceived skills
Positive values indicate increase in perceived skills
 My ability to assess weight status and associated risk factors r = −0.28 r = − 0.25
p = 0.02 p = 0.04
 My ability to address weight management/obesity issues with patients r = − 0.25
p = 0.04
 My ability to teach and motivate patients toward physical activity
 My ability to teach and motivate patients toward healthy eating practices
 My ability to use behavior modification techniques to make lifestyle changes in your patients
 My ability to deal with family issues around weight management
Change in Professional Attitudes
Negative values indicate improvement in professional attitudes
 I do not feel sufficiently educated or competent in obesity intervention strategies
 I do not know whom to refer patients in cases of obesity intervention r = 0.36 r = 0.28 r = 0.32
p = 0.004 p = 0.02 p = 0.01
 I am not comfortable in discussing obesity with my patients
 I avoid bringing up the topic of obesity as I do not want to offend or jeopardize my relationship with my patients and/or their family members r = 0.26
p = 0.03
 As a healthcare provider, I am extremely frustrated with the low success rate in managing obesity

Spearman’s correlation tests. This table included only changes that were statistically significant between pre and post-event (n = 67 participant) based on Table 2. Males1 and other HCP2 as reference. HCP=Healthcare providers. Variables as presented in Table 1