Comparisons of Explicit Weight Bias Across Common Clinical Specialties of US Resident Physicians

Abstract

Background: Patients with high body weight are persistently stigmatized in medical settings, with studies demonstrating that providers endorse negative stereotypes of, and have lower regard for, higher-weight patients. Very little is known about how this weight bias varies across specialties. Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine how explicit weight bias varies between resident providers among sixteen of the largest residency specialties in the USA. The identification of these differences will guide the prioritization and targeting of interventions. Design: The current study utilized cross-sectional, observational data. Participants: Forty-nine allopathic medical schools were recruited to participate in this national, longitudinal study. The current study utilized data from 3267 trainees in Year 2 of Residency among those who specialized in one of the most common sixteen residency programs in 2016. Main Measures: Participants reported demographic information and residency specialties and completed three sets of measures pertaining to explicit weight bias. Key Results: A significant minority (13–48%) of residents reported slight-to-strong agreement with each anti-fat statement. There was a significant relationship between residency specialty and anti-fat blame (F(15, 3189 = 12.87, p