Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity

By S. Phelan, Diana J. Burgess, M. Yeazel, W. Hellerstedt, J. Griffin, M. Ryn. 2015

1,182 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The objective of this study was to critically review the empirical evidence from all relevant disciplines regarding obesity stigma in order to (i) determine the implications of obesity stigma for healthcare providers and their patients with obesity and (ii) identify strategies to improve care for patients with obesity. We conducted a search of Medline and PsychInfo for all peer‐reviewed papers presenting original empirical data relevant to stigma, bias, discrimination, prejudice and medical care. We then performed a narrative review of the existing empirical evidence regarding the impact of obesity stigma and weight bias for healthcare quality and outcomes. Many healthcare providers hold strong negative attitudes and stereotypes about people with obesity. There is considerable evidence that such attitudes influence person‐perceptions, judgment, interpersonal behaviour and decision‐making. These attitudes may impact the care they provide. Experiences of or expectations for poor treatment may cause stress and avoidance of care, mistrust of doctors and poor adherence among patients with obesity. Stigma can reduce the quality of care for patients with obesity despite the best intentions of healthcare providers to provide high‐quality care. There are several potential intervention strategies that may reduce the impact of obesity stigma on quality of care.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Pharmacy, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In General Health Professions

1. John F. Dovidio
2. J. Dixon
3. V. Earnshaw
4. D. Eisenberg
5. R. Puhl

In Pharmacy

1. R. Puhl
2. C. Apovian
3. Chelsea A. Heuer
4. Janet Tomiyama
5. Chad D Meyerhoefer
6. J. Cawley

In Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

1. J. Dixon
2. Jeffrey I. Mechanick
3. D. Eisenberg
4. D. Cummings
5. R. Puhl
6. C. Apovian
7. Chad D Meyerhoefer
8. J. Cawley

Citations in the corpus

• Joint international consensus statement for ending stigma of obesity (2020, background): “Evidence suggests that physicians spend less time in appointments and provide less education about health to patients with obesity compared with thinner patients 17 , and patients who report having experienced weight bias in the healthcare setting have poor treatment outcomes 40 and might be more li”
• The Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework: a global, crosscutting framework to inform research, intervention development, and policy on health-related stigmas (2019, background): “In healthcare settings, women who perceive stigmatization from their providers report delaying use of preventive health services for fear of being judged or embarrassed [120].”
• A Framework for Understanding Sources of Harm throughout the Machine Learning Life Cycle (2019, background): “” However, structural discrimination can lead to systematically higher rates of misdiagnosis or underdiagnosis in certain groups [23, 32, 35].”