Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2025

Identifier

DOI: 10.1002/osp4.70095; PMCID: PMC12550863

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Although weight stigma in healthcare is common, existing measures may not capture the full range of patients' weight stigma experiences in clinical practice. We aimed to examine how physical examination by healthcare providers, communication, and the built environment perpetuate weight stigma and impact healthcare avoidance. Items from the previously developed Weight Stigma in Healthcare Inventory (WSHCI) were tested to assess weight stigma experiences and assess association with healthcare avoidance.

METHODS: Two sample groups, identified through ResearchMatch and a Qualtrics survey panel, completed the WSHCI online. We analyzed the association between individual items and healthcare avoidance, and between a summation of weight stigma experiences and healthcare avoidance, adjusting for demographics.

RESULTS: Five-hundred twenty four surveys were received. All weight stigma items were associated with healthcare avoidance, with the strongest associations found for items related to experiencing stigma during physical examination. Greater numbers of stigmatizing experiences were associated with healthcare avoidance (OR 1.31, 95% CI [1.26, 1.37]).

CONCLUSIONS: To reduce healthcare avoidance due to weight stigma, all aspects-the physical examination, communication, overall experiences and the built environment-need to be addressed. Reducing the overall number of negative experiences and reducing weight stigma experiences during physical examination may be especially important to reduce healthcare avoidance.

Journal Title

Obes Sci Pract

Volume

11

Issue

5

First Page

70095

Last Page

70095

PubMed ID

41142405

Keywords

healthcare access; questionnaire; weight stigma

Comments

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Publisher's Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/osp4.70095

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