Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan-Dec:15:21501319241303608.
doi: 10.1177/21501319241303608.

Perceived Health Concerns and Barriers to Care in Persons With Overweight and Obesity: A Patient Survey

A Scott Keller  1 , Ryan T Hurt  1 , Darrell R Schroeder  1 , Ramona S DeJesus  1 , Ravindra Ganesh  1 , Shawn C Fokken  1 , Manpreet S Mundi  1 , Sara L Bonnes  1 , Donna K Lawson  1 , Jane W Njeru  1 , Ann Vincent  1 , Jon O Ebbert  1 , Karthik Ghosh  1 , Haitham S Abu Lebdeh  1 , Donald D Hensrud  1 , Sanjeev Nanda  1 , Ivana T Croghan  1
Affiliations

Perceived Health Concerns and Barriers to Care in Persons With Overweight and Obesity: A Patient Survey

A Scott Keller et al. J Prim Care Community Health. 2024 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: health care; obesity; patient perspective; survey; weight shame.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

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.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Participant flow diagram. BMI indicates body mass index. aRespondents could have more than 1 item missing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. Obesity. Accessed March 20, 2024. https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity
    1. Obesity Medicine Assocation. What is Obesity? 2023. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://obesitymedicine.org/what-is-obesity/
    1. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Overweight and Obesity Management. 2022. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/overweight-and-obesity/management
    1. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Managing Overweight and Obesity in Adults. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2013. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/media/docs/obesity-evidenc...
    1. Cawley J, Biener A, Meyerhoefer C, et al.. Direct medical costs of obesity in the United States and the most populous states. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2021;27(3):354-366. doi:10.18553/jmcp.2021.20410 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources