Clinician identification of youth abusing over-the-counter products for weight control in a large U.S. integrated health system

Table 2 Selected characteristics documented in 745 clinical notes for 426 adolescent patients (307 females and 119 males) ages 12-17 years whose clinical note included mention of OTC products used for weight control ^a

	Females	Males	P-value^b
	(N = 588 Notes)	(N = 157 Notes)	P-value^b
Mean age, years (std. dev.)	15.1 (1.6)	14.8 (1.6)	0.0031
Clinician notes suspicion of use of OTC products abused for weight control, % (n)	5.6 (33)	7.0 (11)	0.51
Patient denies use of OTC products abused for weight control (negating language used by clinician), % (n)	60.5 (356)	25.5 (40)	<0.0001
Patient endorses use, % (n)	9.0 (53)	0.0 (0)	<0.0001
Any previous eating disorder diagnosis, % (n patients)	29.0% (n = 89 cases/307 patients)	8.4% (n = 10 cases/119 patients)	<0.0001

^a Data are aggregated from 745 notes over a 29-month observation period from Aug. 1, 2005, through Dec. 31, 2010.
^b P-value from Pearson Chi-square test of gender differences.

ISSN: 2050-2974