Comparison of obese and non-obese patients in terms of self-esteem, body perception, body weight perception and sociodemographic components
Özet
Objective: The aim of the study is to compare the randomly selected obese patients from the endocrinology outpatient clinic of a university hospital and the randomly selected non-obese patients from the general internal diseases outpatient clinic of the same hospital in the sense of self-esteem, body perception, body weight perception and some other sociodemographic features. Methods: The study included a total of 350 patients, of whom 175 were obese (147 female patients, 84%) and 175 were non-obese (115 female patients, 65.7%). The body mass indexes of the patients who were included in the study were measured. While the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale was used to assess self-esteem, the body perception scale was used to assess the body perception of these patients. The consistency between the body mass index classifications and the self-body weight perceptions of the patients was also assessed. Results: The obese patients were found to have lower self-esteem and be less pleased about their bodies, and tend to perceive their body weights lower than their actual body weight when compared with the non-obese group. The non-obese patients in our study were found to be more pleased about their bodies whereas they showed higher levels of self-esteem and perceived their body weights more accurately. Discussion: In the light of these findings, obese patients should be evaluated in terms of psychiatry and get psychiatric help if needed. Eventually, obesity is an important issue which should be addressed multidisciplinary.
