It happens all the time. You'll hear comments like slob and stupid associated with obese patients. Surgeons in particular have a reputation for commenting about their patients girth in a less than kind manner. I've heard of one patient who, before her surgery, wrote across her abdomen "no fat jokes". It was written so that it was legible from her feet - no easy feat for a pt in hospital. Clearly this is something she was worried about. And she should be. If we don't like our patients or feel that there is something unpleasant about them, we are less likely to treat them well. It's well documented that our psychiatric patients are less likely to have their routine care up to date compared to their counterparts with no mental health concerns.
I did a quick pubmed search looking for obesity discrimination by health care providers. There is a definite dearth of information on the topic. All I know is what I hear. As a larger than average resident, I don't hear as much as what others might, but what I do hear is concerning. In a perfect world, all patients would be seen as equal, no wackiness based on how a patient looks.
We know that role modelling plays an incredibly important part in every medical student's education. Given that medical students start with a bias, it's even more important that those acting as mentors to their students be aware of how their own prejudices can shape attitudes.
The students looked at the virtually obese patient less often and anticipated poor compliance from her. In general they displayed negative stereotyping towards the obese "patient".
Our world is not entirely dim though. Another study has shown that a brief intervention providing anti-bias teaching about obesity is effective in decreasing these negative stereotypes. I worry though that if it's this easy to change an attitude, will the off handed comment of a consultant cause the patient to change back to their previous biases?
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