Assessment of Underuse and Overuse of Screening Tests for Co-occurring Conditions Among Children With Obesity

IMPORTANCE: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends laboratory screening for diabetes, dyslipidemia, and liver disease every 2 years among children aged 10 years and older with obesity. Routine screening for hypothyroidism or hyperinsulinemia is not recommended. National data on rates of adherence to AAP-recommended screening and rates of potentially unnecessary endocrine testing are unavailable. OBJECTIVE: To assess rates of AAP-adherent screening and potentially unnecessary endocrine testing among privately and publicly insured children diagnosed with obesity at well-child visits. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used data from the 2018-2019 IBM MarketScan Commercial Database (which contains claims from privately insured patients across the US) and the 2018-2019 IBM MarketScan Multi-State Medicaid Database (which contains claims from Medicaid patients in multiple states). A total of 156 773 children aged 10 to 18 years with obesity diagnosis codes at a well-child visit from December 1, 2018, through November 30, 2019, were included. Analysis was performed from May 1 to October 31, 2021. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary outcomes were the proportion of children who received AAP-adherent screening during the 729 days before to 30 days after a well-child visit and the proportion of children who received 1 or more potentially unnecessary thyroid or insulin tests during the same period. Proportions of children by payer type were compared using logistic regression models adjusted for age and sex. To assess screening that was potentially ordered by primary care clinicians, the proportion of children without AAP-adherent screening before visits who received this screening within 30 days was calculated. RESULTS: Of 156 773 children, the mean (SD) age was 13.5 years (2.5) years; 83 305 (53.1%) were male, and 97 595 (62.3%) were publicly insured. Among publicly insured children, 13 167 (13.5%) were Hispanic or Latino, 34 792 (35.6%) were non-Hispanic Black, 42 029 (43.1%) were non-Hispanic White, 3850 (3.9%) were of other race and/or ethnicity (specific races and ethnicities were not available in the database), and 3757 (3.8%) were of unknown race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity were not available for privately insured children because these data are not reported in the commercial claims database. During the 729 days before to 30 days after well-child visits, 42 849 patients (27.3%) received AAP-adherent screening, including 13 939 (23.6%) of 59 178 privately insured children and 28 910 (29.6%) of 97 595 publicly insured children (average marginal effect for public insurance: 6.8 [95% CI, 6.3-7.2] percentage points). In addition, 46 592 children (29.7%) received potentially unnecessary thyroid or insulin tests, including 12 834 (21.7%) of 59 178 privately insured children and 23 198 (23.8%) of 97 595 publicly insured children (average marginal effect for public insurance: 2.4 [95% CI, 2.0-2.8] percentage points). Among 129 104 children who did not receive AAP-adherent screening before visits, 15 090 (11.7%) received this screening within 30 days. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cross-sectional study, similar proportions of children diagnosed with obesity at well-child visits received recommended and nonrecommended screening tests for obesity-related co-occurring conditions, suggesting that specific actionable guidelines and interventions are needed to prevent overuse and underuse of screening tests among children with obesity.