Only 4% of Israeli doctors prescribe diet pills

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Saturday, February 19, 2005 11:59 am Email this article
Only 4 percent of physicians in Israel prescribe diet pills according to a 2002 survey. Reluctance of doctors to prescribe diet pills

“Only 4% of doctors recommended using regular anti-obesity drug therapy

<' the paper notes. "The reluctance of the Israeli primary care physician to prescribe pharmacological agents to promote weight loss lies perhaps in the question of whether the potential benefits outweigh the risks. The serious side effects associated with fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine may contribute to the current practice."

Three-fourths of doctors did not feel well prepared to treat overweight patients

Nearly three-fourths of doctors (72 percent) “believed that they had limited efficacy in treating obesity and considered themselves not well prepared by medical school to treat overweight patients.”

Nearly two-thirds felt they had insufficient knowledge about nutrition

Sixty percent reported “feeling that they have insufficient knowledge regarding nutritional issues.”

Two-thirds of doctors knew the indications for prescribing diet pills

Regarding diet drugs, only two-thirds (66 percent) knew the the indications for when diet drugs could be prescribed.

In Israel, 44% of men, 32% of women overweight, 17% of men and 25% of women obese

In Israel in 2000, among adults ages 25-65 years-old, 44 percent of men and 32 percent of women were overweight (body mass index (BMI) of 25-30) and an additional 17 percent of men and 25 percent of women were obese (BMI of 30 or more).

Subjects: 510 doctors

The survey came from 510 doctors who returned a questionnaire.

REFERENCE

Fogelman Y, Vinker S, Lachter J, Biderman A, Itzhak B, Kitai E. Managing obesity: a survey of attitudes and practices among israeli primary care physicians. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2002 Oct, 26(10):1393-97.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Department of Family Practice
Central Emek Hospital, Afula and Rappaport Faculty of Medicine
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Haifa, Israel
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