Abstract
BACKGROUND
Obesity disproportionately affects African Americans and leads to several major co-morbidities. While guidelines recommend physicians identify obese patients and counsel them on weight management, little is known about how these efforts are received by patients.
OBJECTIVE
To elucidate how obese, urban African American patients perceive the physician role in the treatment of obesity and to identify specific provider behaviors that may motivate or hinder attempts at weight loss.
DESIGN
Qualitative study involving eight focus groups.
PARTICIPANTS
Forty-three obese African-American patients recruited from academic internal medicine practices participated in focus groups between September 2007 and February 2008.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Four broad themes emerged: (1) dislike of the word obese, (2) importance of the physician manner and timing when discussing weight, (3) necessity of a personalized approach in discussing weight management issues, and (4) variable response to scare tactics. Within each theme participants identified specific physician behaviors that were perceived as either motivating or hindering attempts at weight loss.
CONCLUSIONS
Physicians must be cognizant of the potential unintended consequences of the techniques they use to educate and counsel African-American men and women on obesity, particulary those that may be perceived as negative and act to further alienate obese patients from seeking the care they need.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a Department of Medicine Faculty Development Research Award from Temple University School of Medicine, which was awarded to Dr. Ward. All members of the research team contributed to the manuscript and are represented as authors. All authors deny any conflicts of interest. Findings were presented orally at the 31st Annual Society of General Internal Medicine meeting on April 12, 2008, and in poster at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Society of General Internal Medicine meeting on March 7, 2008.
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Ward, S.H., Gray, A.M. & Paranjape, A. African Americans’ Perceptions of Physician Attempts to Address Obesity in the Primary Care Setting. J GEN INTERN MED 24, 579–584 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-0922-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-0922-z