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

Table 1 Selected characteristics documented in 230 clinical notes for 130 adolescent patients (77 females and 53 males) ages 12-17 years presenting with a metabolic disturbance potentially associated with abuse of over-the-counter (OTC) products for weight control ^a

	Females	Males	P-Value^b
	(N = 146 Notes)	(N = 84 Notes)	P-Value^b
Mean age, years (std. dev)	15.5 (1.48)	15.5 (1.56)	0.8979
Weight status ^c , % (n)
Underweight	16.9 (13)	22.6 (12)	0.049
Healthy weight	52.0 (40)	30.2 (16)
Overweight	15.6 (12)	15.1 (8)
Obese	15.6 (12)	32.1 (17)
Any previous eating disorder diagnosis, % (n)	7.8 (6)	3.8 (2)	0.349
Type of condition noted ^d , % (n)
Electrolyte disturbance	8.2 (12)	8.3 (7)	0.976
Hypochloremic alkalosis	0	0	N/A
Hypermagnesmia	0	0	N/A
Hypoalbuminemia	6.2 (9)	2.4 (2)	0.195
Hypokalemia	0	0	N/A
Hyperchloremic acidosis	0	0	N/A
Hyponatremia	0	0	N/A
Hypophospatemia	1.4 (2)	2.4 (2)	0.572
Metabolic acidosis	7.5 (11)	8.3 (7)	0.820
Metabolic alkalosis	4.8 (7)	3.6 (3)	0.661

^aData are aggregated from 230 notes over a 29-month observation period from Aug. 1, 2005, through Dec. 31, 2010.
^bP-value from Pearson Chi-square test of gender differences.
^cWeight status categories defined according to BMI percentile for age and sex as follows: obese: BMI ≥ 95th; overweight: 95th > BMI ≥ 85th; healthy weight: 15th ≤ BMI < 85th; underweight: BMI < 15th.
^dPatients could be diagnosed with more than one metabolic disturbance.

ISSN: 2050-2974