Attitude towards obesity and its treatment – analysis of the attitudes of patients with obesit

Background
Knowledge is one of the key individual measures for prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity.

Objectives
We wanted to find out what the attitudes of obese patients towards their own disease were. It was also our goal to identify the sources of knowledge on obesity and learn about their significance in the perception of the disease.

Material and methods
The study was conducted between February and March 2019. 621 patients suffering from obesity participated in it. The study was conducted with the use of the CAWI technique and an original, self-made research tool.

Results
81.1% of our respondents revealed that they did not accept their obesity. For the patients, electronic media was the main source of knowledge concerning the disease. 30.4% of respondents declared that they make use of information obtained from other patients. A similar percentage (30.1%) stated that they used academic publications. Only 19.2% received knowledge about the illness from medical staff, most frequently from primary care physicians (77.8%), doctors of other specialisations (74.5%) and nutritionists (63.2%). Patients indicated a low level of knowledge concerning patients’ rights, possibilities for getting psychological support and rehabilitation during the disease.

Conclusions
Most patients declared a will to start obesity treatment. A large group (30%) required encouragement to start therapy and obtain support during obesity treatment. Medical staff are in need of information support, thanks to which they will be able to serve as a reliable source of knowledge concerning obesity treatment methods.