Underdiagnosis and Lower Rates of Office Visits for Overweight/Obese Pediatric Patients in Rural Compared with Urban Areas.

OBJECTIVES

This study compared the number of children enrolled in Medicaid in rural and urban areas of South Carolina with an overweight/obesity diagnosis and the mean rates of office visits with overweight/obesity diagnosed.

METHODS

Medicaid claims data from 2012 for children in three South Carolina counties, categorized as urban, rural high resource, and rural low resource, were used to identify those who had been diagnosed as being overweight/obese during any encounter. Logistic and Poisson regressions were performed to predict whether overweight/obese children in each county would receive an overweight/obesity visit diagnosis and to calculate the mean rate of total office visits with an overweight/obesity diagnosis in each county.

RESULTS

A total of 1233 children enrolled in Medicaid were diagnosed as being overweight/obese at any encounter in the designated counties. Well visits with overweight/obesity diagnosed varied significantly, with 42.6%, 28%, and 11% in urban, rural high-resource counties, and rural low-resource counties, respectively ( < 0.01). In the logistic regression rural high-resource children (adjusted odds ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval 0.38-0.88) and rural low-resource children (adjusted odds ratio 0.16, 95% confidence interval 0.09-0.28) were less likely than urban children to be diagnosed as being overweight/obese at a well visit. All of the children had a low number of total office visits with overweight/obesity diagnosed. When comparing the counties, urban children (1.22 visits per year) had more visits than rural low-resource children (0.75 visits per year, < 0.01) and rural high-resource children (0.89 visits per year, < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Overweight/obesity is underdiagnosed in rural children enrolled in Medicaid in South Carolina, which affects the number of children who receive help to manage their weight. Interventions to overcome barriers of diagnosis and management are necessary to address childhood obesity properly.