Weight Change at the Point of Care 

Weight concerns are among the most common and complex challenges in primary care. From unexplained weight gain and difficulty losing weight to obesity management, medication effects, and unintentional weight loss, finding the underlying contributors isn’t always straightforward.

Explore practical, evidence-informed clinical resources designed to help nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other primary care clinicians organize assessments, consider potential causes, and determine appropriate next steps during real-world patient visits.

Instead of organizing the topic like a textbook, this guide starts with the patient presentation in front of you and helps you decide what pattern you are seeing, what questions matter most, what to examine, which labs are appropriate, what red flags require escalation, and what you can reasonably do today. 

The full package includes a 74-page clinician guide, 10 two-page point-of-care pathways, shared reference modules, 10 matching EHR SmartPhrases, and a companion Master Evidence Register supporting the evidence IDs used throughout the guide. 

Weight-Change-at-the-Point-of-Care.pdf

Use it during visits for presentations including:

• progressive or unexplained weight gain
• difficulty losing weight despite reasonable effort
• rapid or unexpected gain
• midlife/perimenopausal weight changes
• fatigue-associated weight gain
• edema or suspected fluid retention
• PCOS/hyperandrogenic patterns
• medication-related weight gain
• anti-obesity medication plateau
• weight regain after stopping an anti-obesity medication