Purpose: Frequent sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is associated with chronic disease. Although physician counseling can positively affect patient behavior, physicians' personal characteristics may influence counseling practices. We explored SSB-related topics physicians discuss when counseling overweight/obese patients and examined associations between physicians' SSB-related counseling practices and their personal and medical practice characteristics.
Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Setting: DocStyles survey, 2014.
Participants: A total of 1510 practicing US physicians.
Measures: Physician's SSB counseling on calories, added sugars, obesity/weight gain, health effects, consumption frequency, water substitution, and referral.
Analysis: Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were calculated with multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for physician's personal and medical practice characteristics.
Results: Most physicians (98.5%) reported SSB-related counseling. The most reported topic was obesity/weight gain (81.4%); the least reported were added sugars (53.1%) and referral (35.0%). Physicians in adult-focused specialties had lower odds than pediatricians of counseling on several topics (aOR range: 0.26-0.64). Outpatient physicians had higher odds than inpatient physicians of counseling on consumption frequency and water substitution (aOR range: 1.60-2.01). Physicians consuming SSBs ≥1 time/day (15.7%) had lower odds than nonconsumers of counseling on most topics (aOR range: 0.58-0.68).
Conclusion: Most physicians reported SSB-related counseling; obesity/weight gain was discussed most frequently. Counseling opportunities remain in other topic areas. Opportunities also exist to strengthen SSB counseling practices in adult-focused specialties, inpatient settings, and among physicians who consume SSBs daily.
Keywords: clinical setting; counseling; obesity; physicians; sugar-sweetened beverage.