Obese Women Less Likely To Seek Routine Health

Women who are obese or overweight are less likely to regularly seek out routine health screenings, such as breast and gynecological examinations, putting them at a greater risk for health problems.

One reason for this reluctance to see their physician may be because of embarrassment, show the results of a recent survey. In addition, most overweight or obese women do not consider their primary care physician as a source of weight management information, reports another recent study.

A survey published in the Archives of Family Medicine, reports obesity increases a person's risk for certain diseases, including many organ-related diseases and some forms of cancer. In fact, obese women (those with a body mass index of 35 or more) are at significantly higher risk for cervical, endometrial, ovarian, gallbladder, and breast cancers. Routine mammography, clinical breast examinations, gynecological examinations, and Pap tests are important in the early detection and treatment of certain cancers.

In the survey, researchers found that obese women were far more likely to delay seeking preventive health care services, except for mammograms. The researchers speculate that there are several reasons for this reluctance to seek routine health screenings, including:

• Obese women may want to avoid disrobing and being manipulated on their bodies by a physician;
  
  
• Mammograms are less invasive and involve less direct physical contact, which may explain why obese women do seek routine mammogram screenings;
  
  
• Obesity may dissuade a physician from suggesting certain routine procedures, perhaps due to possible technical difficulties associated with a procedure, especially pelvic examinations in obese women;
  
  
• Physicians may be persuaded by their reluctant obese patients to forego on the routine physical examination; and
  
  
• In general, obese women make more physician visits during a year for ailments, perhaps lowering their perception of priority for preventive services and screenings.

Another recent study found that the perception obese women have of their health care providers is generally positive, but most obese patients felt their primary care physicians did not adequately address their weight problem and appropriate treatment options. This study, also published in the Archives of Family Medicine, reported that most overweight or obese women do not rely on their primary care physicians for weight management information. Nearly two-thirds of the study's participants reported that their physicians "don't understand how difficult it is to be overweight." Half of the participants also reported that their physician did not mention any of the most common weight loss methods.

Although less satisfied with their physicians in terms of weight-related attitudes, most participants in the study blame themselves for their obesity and do not expect their physicians to provide weight management counseling. To the researchers, this lack of weight management initiation on the part of the physicians is a concern.

- Courtesy of The Methodist Health Care System's online column "Healthy Knowledge"

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/10_01_01/page_30.html