2023-08-02 18:00:00
According to a study by researchers at the University of Missouri, more and more patients are trying to avoid weighing during their medical visits. To understand why, they interviewed 384 adult women of different morphologies about the process and their feelings during the appointment. The results, presented in the September issue of the journal Body Image : An International Journal of Researchshow that this common practice during consultations has an impact on the mental health of patients.
Medial visit: the stress of weighing keeps women away from the offices
According to data collected by American scientists, more than half of respondents said that being asked to step on the scale during a medical consultation had a negative impact on their emotions, self-esteem and mental health. . In addition, many of the women surveyed admitted to being afraid that their doctor would discriminate against them by knowing their weight.
“The implications of these findings show that we really need to start training healthcare personnel to shed some light on this issue, because it is urgent.”says Kate Trout, assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Missouri and research collaborator. “From our study, we know that more than 30% of women refuse to be weighed, and we also know that some women will even avoid all health care in an effort to avoid weighing. We need to be more inclusive to ensure everyone gets the care they need, which could lead to better long-term outcomes.”she adds in a communiqué.
Mental health: weighing the patient at the end of the consultation could be a solution
“Research shows that most of the time it is not necessary to weigh yourself during a visit to the doctor. The first step is to get the message across that you can opt out of being weighed. Most people don’t know that”warns Virginia Ramseyer Winter, associate professor in the School of Social Work in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Missouri and director of the Center for Body Image Research and Policy.
The researcher and her team suggest that healthcare professionals rethink their practices. They point out that one way to mitigate this negative impact on mental health is to change the timing of the weigh-in. Scientists recommend waiting until the end of the consultation and only putting on the scale patients for whom the medical need to know the weight has been determined during the appointment. In this way, the negative impact on mental health or even stress-related disorders caused by weighing, such as increased blood pressure, can be avoided.
The results of this University of Missouri study pave the way for policy changes in the health field. Raising patients’ awareness of their rights as well as training healthcare professionals on this issue is essential to make healthcare more inclusive and improve long-term outcomes.
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