Obese Patients Trust Diet Advice From Overweight More Than Normal Weight Doctors

Date: Jun-05-2013A team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that obese people are more likely to trust weight-related guidance from physicians who are overweight compared to those who are of normal weight.

The finding was published in the June 2013 issue of Preventive Medicine.

Sara Bleich, PhD, associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management, said that "with respect to overall trust, our results suggest that overweight and obese patients trust their primary care physicians, regardless of their body weight."

However, when it comes to trust related to weight guidance, the researchers found that the overweight patients more strongly "trusted diet advice from overweight primary care physicians as compared to normal BMI primary care physicians."

In addition, they found that "patient perceptions of weight-related stigma increased with physician BMI."

Patients who went to obese physicians for guidance were more likely to feel judged because of their weight compared to normal weight physicians.

The researchers conducted a cross-section survey about overall trust, as well as trust when it comes to weight.

The survey included a total of 600 overweight or obese patients.

They measured overall trust by asking the patients to rate how much they trusted their doctor on a scale of 0 to 10 - with 10 meaning they trusted their doctor implicitly.

Trust in weight-related advice was evaluated by asking them: "How much do you trust the advice from this doctor about how to control your weight; improve your diet or increase your physical activity, a great deal; a good amount; only some or very little?"

Through multivariate regression analyses the researchers were able to see whether trust or stigma was different depending on the BMI of their doctor.

Bleich noted that:

"While weight-related stigma has been documented among health professionals for decades, as well as lower physician respect towards patients with a higher BMI, our finding that weight-related stigma increases with physician BMI was quite surprising."

It is vital to identify any barriers that prevent good quality obesity care. Research carried out at Stanford University revealed that patients with higher levels of trust in their regular physicians are more likely than patients with less trust to have better care.

The investigators highlighted the need for further research concerning physician BMI on obesity care. "In particular, why patient-perceived physician stigma is higher among heavier primary care physicians and why the patterns we observed between physician BMI and trust in weight-related counseling differ by the type of counseling."
Are doctors are biased against obese people?
A study published in the Journal of Academic Medicine revealed that up to forty percent of medical students are unconsciously biased against obese people.
Doctors generally have an anti-fat bias which results in obese people not receiving the same level of respect as slim people.

Do Doctors Treat Fat Patients Differently?

Written by Joseph Nordqvist

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