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Objectives: To identify patient characteristics, health concerns, and barriers to care based on overweight or obesity., Methods: A 50-question anonymous survey was administered to patients. Data were compared by body mass index (BMI)., Results: Among 3976 distributed surveys, 899 were returned and 682 were analyzed. Most respondents were women (60%), White (94%), and married/partnered (65%) and had some college education (80%). Younger and unmarried persons had higher BMI ( P  < .001). Concern for quality of life ( P  < .001) and importance of lifestyle changes ( P  = .006) increased with BMI, but confidence in making changes decreased as BMI increased ( P  < .001). Perceived good health decreased with increasing BMI ( P  < .001), whereas depression and other comorbid conditions increased. Self-esteem decreased and stigma increased with higher BMI (both P  < .001). Weight discussions with clinicians ( P  < .001) and belief that clinicians should be involved in weight management ( P  = .002) increased with BMI, yet self-perception of being judged by clinicians also increased ( P  < .001). As BMI increased, delays in seeking health care increased ( P  < .001)., Conclusions: This survey study highlights perceived health concerns and barriers to care among persons with overweight and obesity. With higher BMI, self-esteem decreased, and stigma, self-perception of poor health, perception of being judged by clinicians, and delay in seeking medical care increased., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: J.O.E. serves on a scientific advisory board for Applied Aerosol Technologies and serves as a consultant to Exact Sciences and K Health, with reimbursement paid to Mayo Clinic. M.S.M. has research grants from Fresenius Kabi, Nestle, Realfood Blends, and VectivBio, and he is a consultant for NorthSea. S.L.B. serves on a scientific advisory board for CorMedix. All other authors have nothing to declare.All authors declare no support from any organization for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 3 years; and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Objective: The purpose of this feasibility pilot study was to evaluate safety and adherence of a wearable brain sensing wellness device designed to reduce stress among healthcare professionals (HCP)., Methods: A total of 40 HCP were invited to participate in an open-label pilot study. Participants were asked to use a brain sensing wearable device (MUSE-S™) on a daily basis to reduce their stress, for a total of 90 days. Total study participation duration was 180 days. Study enrollment began in August 2021 and ended December 2021. The exploratory outcomes included stress, depression, sleep, burn-out, resilience, quality of life, and cognition., Results: Among the 40 HCP in study, the majority were female (85%), white (87.5%) and with an average age of 41.3 ± 11.0 years (SD). Participants used the wearable device an average of 23.8 times over a 30-day period with a mean duration of 5.8 min with each use. Study results demonstrate the positive impact of guided mindfulness using the wearable device MUSE-S™ and its accompanying application (APP). A statistically significant improvement was found for a reduction in stress ( P  < .001) and improvement in resilience ( P  = .02), quality of life ( P  = .003), and cognition ( P  < .001). The majority (91.9%) of the participants indicated they felt more relaxed after using the device, and 73% indicated they would continue to use this device at end-of-study. No adverse effects were reported., Conclusion: Study results show that 3 to 10 min of guided meditation during work hours through the use of a brain sensing wearable device is safe and acceptable, with associated health benefits for HCP.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate body mass index, multi-morbidity, and COVID-19 Risk Score as predictors of severe COVID-19 outcomes., Patients: Patients from this study are from a well-characterized patient cohort collected at Mayo Clinic between January 1, 2020 and May 23, 2020; with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis defined as a positive result on reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assays from nasopharyngeal swab specimens., Measures: Demographic and clinical data were extracted from the electronic medical record. The data included: date of birth, gender, ethnicity, race, marital status, medications (active COVID-19 agents), weight and height (from which the Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated, history of smoking, and comorbid conditions to calculate the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) multi-morbidity score. An additional COVID-19 Risk Score was also included. Outcomes included hospital admission, ICU admission, and death., Results: Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the impact on mortality or hospital admission. Age, sex, and race (white/Latino, white/non-Latino, other, did not disclose) were adjusted for in the model. Patients with higher COVID-19 Risk Scores had a significantly higher likelihood of being at least admitted to the hospital (HR = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.30, 2.50; P  < .001), or experiencing death or inpatient admission (includes ICU admissions) (HR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.42; P  = .028). Age was the only statistically significant demographic predictor, but obesity was not a significant predictor of any of the outcomes., Conclusion: Age and COVID-19 Risk Scores were significant predictors of severe COVID-19 outcomes. Further work should examine the properties of the COVID-19 Risk Factors Scale.

Objective: To describe the process and outcome of creating a patient cohort in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to better understand the process of and predict the outcomes of COVID-19., Patients and Methods: A total of 1169 adults aged 18 years of age or older who tested positive in Mayo Clinic Rochester or the Mayo Clinic Midwest Health System between January 1 and May 23 of 2020., Results: Patients were on average 43.9 years of age and 50.7% were female. Most patients were white (69.0%), and Blacks (23.4%) and Asians (5.8%) were also represented in larger numbers. Hispanics represented 16.3% of the sample. Just under half of patients were married (48.4%). Common comorbid conditions included: cardiovascular diseases (25.1%), dyslipidemia (16.0%), diabetes mellitus (11.2%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (6.6%), asthma (7.5%), and cancer (5.1%). All other comorbid conditions were less the 5% in prevalence. Data on 3 comorbidity indices are also available including the: DHHS multi-morbidity score, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and Mayo Clinic COVID-19 Risk Factor Score., Conclusion: In addition to managing the ever raging pandemic and growing death rates, it is equally important that we develop adequate resources for the investigation and understanding of COVID-19-related predictors and outcomes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine self-reported knowledge, attitudes, prior experience, and perceived needs for the management of overweight and obese patients within a General Internal Medicine Practice., Patients and Methods: An emailed cross-sectional survey was sent between June 20, 2019 and September 12, 2019 to 194 healthcare workers (93 primary care providers (PCPs) and 101 nurses) which focused on management of patients with weight issues., Results: In total, 80 of the eligible 194 participants completed the survey (nurses = 42, PCPs = 38). Up to 87% were white, 74.7% female (74.7%). Most of the responders were either in the age group of 30's (30%) or 50's (30%). Among the responders, 48.8% reported some type of specialty training in weight management since their medical training with lectures being the most common form of training (36%). When asked about their interest in either weight management training or strategies to initiate weight conversations, 79% of the respondents reported an interest in education on weight management or strategies to initiate weight conversations, while 65.8% indicated they would be interested in both topics., Conclusion: Our study suggests that healthcare workers have a self-reported need for further training in management of overweight and obese patients, irrespective of previous training in this area.