Measuring Medical Student Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Patients Who Are Obese

Overview

Journal Acad Med

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2012 Dec 28

PMID 23269296

Citations 21

Authors

Edward H Ip

Sarah Marshall

Mara Vitolins

Sonia J Crandall

Stephen Davis

David Miller

Donna Kronner

Karen Vaden

John Spangler

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: Research shows obesity bias to undermine the patient-doctor relationship and lead to substandard care. The authors developed and tested an instrument to measure medical students' attitudes and beliefs about obese patients.

Method: The authors conducted a literature search to identify validated measures of obesity bias. Because they identified no appropriate scale, they decided to design a novel survey instrument: the Nutrition, Exercise and Weight Management (NEW) Attitudes Scale. An expert panel generated items which focus groups of third-year medical students then discussed. Next, experienced medical educators judged and weighted the remaining revised items. Then, second- and fourth-year medical students completed the scale alongside two previously validated measures of obesity bias, the Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire (AFA) and Beliefs About Obese Persons Scale (BAOP). Third-year students completed the NEW Attitudes Scale before and after a simulated encounter with an obese standardized patient instructor. The authors tested the validity and reliability.

Results: The final instrument comprised 31 items. A sample of 201 judges rated the items. A sample of 111 second- and fourth-year medical students completed the survey (mean score 24.4, range -37 to 76 out of a possible -118 to 118; higher scores indicate more positive attitudes). Pearson correlations between the NEW Attitudes Scale and AFA and BAOP were, respectively, -0.47 and 0.23. Test-retest reliability was 0.89. Students scored 27% higher after completing the standardized patient-instructor encounter (P < .001).

Conclusion: The NEW Attitudes Scale has good validity and reliability and may be used in future studies.

Citing Articles

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Efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing explicit and implicit weight bias in healthcare students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Jayawickrama R, Hill B, OConnor M, Flint S, Hemmingsson E, Ellis L Obes Rev. 2024; 26(2):e13847.

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Preclinical obesity curriculum: audit, implementation, and evaluation.

Olson A, Watowicz R, Seeholzer E, Lyons K, Butsch W, Croniger C BMC Med Educ. 2024; 24(1):639.

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A Multi-Modality Intervention Improves Obesity Bias among Medical Students.

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Team-Based Learning Intervention to Improve Obesity Education in Medical School.

Olson A, Watowicz R, Seeholzer E, Lyons K, Butsch W, Croniger C MedEdPORTAL. 2023; 19:11369.

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