Management of Gestational Weight Gain by Family Physicians: Seeking Congruence With Guidelines

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
Background The Institute of Medicine (IOM) published guidelines in 2009 for optimal gestational weight gain (GWG) during pregnancy. These guidelines include trajectories for optimal GWG, based on a woman's pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), to be used throughout the duration of a pregnancy. Although there is a significant association between the total GWG recommended by these guidelines and maternal and perinatal outcomes, research has demonstrated that only approximately one-third of pregnant women have total GWG within the recommended amounts. Factors known to influence GWG include maternal age, parity, being in a committed relationship and smoking. In addition, recommendations by primary care providers have been shown to influence actual GWG. Women appreciate advice from their primary care providers, however, despite this, there is evidence that many patients report not being advised at all about GWG by their primary care providers. Relevance Excess weight gain in pregnancy has been shown to be a modifiable risk factor for excess weight in childhood, thus contributing to the intergenerational cycle of obesity. There is an opportunity to interfere with this cycle during the peri-pregnancy period, as women's motivation to engage in behaviour change is elevated and contact with their primary care providers is frequent. Research Question and Hypothesis What impact does training family physicians to regularly refer to the IOM trajectories and provide feedback about GWG (training in the use of IOM charts) during routine prenatal visits, compared to usual care, have on congruence of total GWG with IOM guidelines? Null Hypothesis: there is no difference in the congruence of total GWG with IOM guidelines between women whose family physicians were assigned to training in the use of the IOM charts and those whose family physicians were assigned to usual care. Objectives The following are the objectives for this study: To compare the congruence of total GWG with IOM guidelines between women whose family physicians were assigned to training in the use of IOM trajectories and those whose family physicians were assigned to usual care. To explore the relationship between other independent variables (maternal age, parity, committed relationship and smoking) and congruence of total GWG with IOM guidelines, for women whose family physicians were assigned to training in the use of IOM trajectories and for those whose family physicians were assigned to usual care.

Official Title
-----------------
MANAGEMENT OF GESTATIONAL WEIGHT GAIN BY FAMILY PHYSICIANS: SEEKING CONGRUENCE WITH GUIDELINES

Conditions
-----------------
Gestational Weight Gain

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Behavioral: Training in the use of IOM charts


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: family physicians who provide prenatal care pregnant women with low risk pregnancy Exclusion Criteria: pregnant women < 18 years old pregnant women with multiple gestation pregnant women with chronic disease pregnant women initially presenting in second trimester or later.

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Training in the use of IOM charts<br>Training family physicians to regularly refer to the Institute of Medicine guideline trajectories and provide feedback about GWG (training in the use of IOM charts) during routine prenatal visits. | Behavioral: Training in the use of IOM charts<br> <br> |
| No Intervention: Usual care<br>Family physicians providing usual prenatal care. | |

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Congruence with gestational weight gain guidelines | The congruence of total gestational weight gain with Institute of Medicine guidelines based on pre-pregnancy body mass index. | up to 38 weeks after enrolment | 

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
Pregnancy, Gestational weight gain, Primary care, Guidelines