OB003 - Living with Obesity

OB003 - Living with Obesity

The information contained within this article is from version 49 of the Business Rules for Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF).                                                                     
This indicator is protected in the contract year 2024/25 and will be paid at 2023/24 performance levels

Indicator definition

Indicator ID

Description

OB003

The contractor establishes and maintains a register of patients aged 18 years or over living with obesity, appropriately adjusted for ethnicity in line with NICE guidelines – either with a BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 recorded in the preceding 12 months, or a BMI greater than or equal to 27.5 kg/m2 recorded in the preceding 12 months for patients with a South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean family background.

What are the criteria for this indicator?

In order to be included in OB003, patients must:
  1. be at least 18 years old
  2. have a BMI:
    1. of at least 30 (either by value or code)
    2. of at least 27.5 with a coded ethnic origin (South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean)

What are the common pitfalls/what do I need to watch out for?

  1. A BMI must be recorded every contract year for a patient to remain on the register. Clinical system reporting appears to use a rolling 12 months to maintain a register size (as opposed to resetting to 0 on 1st April). 
The list of ethnic origin codes which help to apply the lower 27.5 threshold is very narrow (using just the 2001 and 2011 census codes) so there may be patients with a BMI in the range 27.5 - 30 who have a different ethnic origin code who are being missed off the register.