TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the Effect of Adding an Interactive Lecture to a Standardized Patient Curriculum on the Attitudes of Third-Year Medical Students About Patients With Obesity: A Quasi-Experimental Study
AU - Grunvald, E.
AU - Wei, J.
AU - Lin, T.
AU - Yang, K.
AU - Tu, X. M.
AU - Lunde, O.
AU - Ross, E.
AU - Cheng, J.
AU - DeConde, J.
AU - Farber, N.
N1 - 2382-1205 Grunvald, Eduardo Orcid: 0000-0001-9332-7069 Wei, Jennie Lin, Tuo Yang, Kun Tu, Xin M Lunde, Ottar Ross, Evelyn Cheng, Jessica DeConde, Jennifer Farber, Neil Journal Article United States 2023/10/19 J Med Educ Curric Dev. 2023 Oct 16;10:23821205231207683. doi: 10.1177/23821205231207683. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Anti-obesity bias is pervasive among medical professionals, students, and trainees. Stigmatization of patients leads to suboptimal care and clinical outcomes. Educational strategies in medical training are needed to reverse these attitudes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an innovative didactic intervention and a standardized patient (SP) exercise on attitudes towards patients with obesity among medical students.METHODS: In 2016, a quasi-experimental study design was used at a US medical school. The class was divided into 2 groups according to a pre-determined protocol based on their clinical schedule, one assessed after exposure to a SP group and the other after exposure to the SP and an interactive lecture (IL + SP group) with real patients. The Attitudes about Treating Patients with Obesity and The Perceived Causes of Obesity questionnaires measured changes in several domains. A generalized estimating equations model was used to estimate the effect of the interventions both within and between groups.RESULTS: Both groups showed improvements in negative and positive attitudes, although the reduction in scores for the negative attitude domain did not reach statistical significance in the IL + SP group (for the SP group,
P = .01 and < .001, respectively; for the IL + SP group,
P = .15 and .01, respectively). For perceived causes of obesity, there were no statistically significant changes for pre-post survey measures within each group, except for the physiologic causes domain in the SP group (
P = .03). The addition of an IL to a SP curriculum did not result in any changes for any domain in between-group analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: Although adding a novel intervention utilizing real patients to a SP curriculum failed to show an additional educational benefit, our study showed that it is possible to influence attitudes of medical students regarding patients with obesity.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Anti-obesity bias is pervasive among medical professionals, students, and trainees. Stigmatization of patients leads to suboptimal care and clinical outcomes. Educational strategies in medical training are needed to reverse these attitudes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an innovative didactic intervention and a standardized patient (SP) exercise on attitudes towards patients with obesity among medical students.METHODS: In 2016, a quasi-experimental study design was used at a US medical school. The class was divided into 2 groups according to a pre-determined protocol based on their clinical schedule, one assessed after exposure to a SP group and the other after exposure to the SP and an interactive lecture (IL + SP group) with real patients. The Attitudes about Treating Patients with Obesity and The Perceived Causes of Obesity questionnaires measured changes in several domains. A generalized estimating equations model was used to estimate the effect of the interventions both within and between groups.RESULTS: Both groups showed improvements in negative and positive attitudes, although the reduction in scores for the negative attitude domain did not reach statistical significance in the IL + SP group (for the SP group,
P = .01 and < .001, respectively; for the IL + SP group,
P = .15 and .01, respectively). For perceived causes of obesity, there were no statistically significant changes for pre-post survey measures within each group, except for the physiologic causes domain in the SP group (
P = .03). The addition of an IL to a SP curriculum did not result in any changes for any domain in between-group analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: Although adding a novel intervention utilizing real patients to a SP curriculum failed to show an additional educational benefit, our study showed that it is possible to influence attitudes of medical students regarding patients with obesity.
KW - Obesity attitudes bias curriculum education medical students
U2 - 10.1177/23821205231207683
DO - 10.1177/23821205231207683
M3 - Article
C2 - 37854280
SN - 2382-1205
VL - 10
SP - 23821205231207683
JO - J Med Educ Curric Dev
JF - J Med Educ Curric Dev
ER -
