ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Pediatric weight or body mass index often is underestimated by providers when relying solely upon visual cues. This study sought to determine physician assistant (PA) students' and recent graduates' ability to accurately assess BMI for age in patients ages 3 to 5 years using visual cues. METHODS: PA students and recent graduates visually assessed pictures of three children ages 3 to 5 years-one obese, one overweight, and one with healthy weight-for BMI categorization via online survey. Responses were scored for accuracy. RESULTS: Ninety-eight PA students and recent graduates completed the assessment. Accuracy for BMI categorization was low, especially in the obese and overweight children for visual assessment alone. Accuracy improved slightly when height and weight data were provided. CONCLUSIONS: PA student and recent graduate visual assessment for categorization of BMI is unreliable, similar to studies with other providers. PAs should be aware of discrepancy and not rely on visual assessment to determine weight-related interventions.
Subject(s)
Body Mass Index , Pediatric Obesity/diagnosis , Photography , Physician Assistants/education , Students , Adult , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Observer Variation , Overweight/diagnosis , Self Efficacy , Young AdultABSTRACT
Changes in the frequency of occurrence of atmospheric circulation patterns under a changing climate system has important implications for regional climate variability. While many studies have focused on understanding the trends in the atmospheric pattern amplitudes and probabilities of occurrence, little attention has been given to how the linkages between climate variables and the large-scale patterns have been changing. Here we first document the strengthening relationship between an important North Pacific teleconnection - the East Pacific/North Pacific (EP/NP) pattern - and United States (US) temperature variability since the 1950s. The EP/NP pattern is linked to tropical convection, and consistently the coherence between US temperature anomalies and tropical convection anomalies has also been increasing during the same time period. This upward trend in convection-temperature alignment is most notable during autumn and winter and is absent during the summer. The relationship strengths and trends further suggest that the EP/NP pattern should be incorporated into monthly and seasonal outlooks that are of broad importance to agriculture, industry, and fisheries.
