Doctors Are Impatient With Fat Patients

Most doctors will tell you that bonding and empathy are essential in a good doctor-patient relationship. What they won’t tell you, and what was revealed in a study at Johns Hopkins Medical School, is that they have less patience with overweight and obese patients than with people of healthy weight. A John Hopkins news release reports that the research analyzed recordings of visits of 208 patients with high blood pressure who saw 39 primary care doctors. The recordings showed no difference related to body mass index (BMI), a ratio of height to weight, in terms of time spent with each patient or in weight counseling. But when they were analyzed for expressed words of empathy, concern or encouragement, the differences popped out. Patient weight played no role in the quantity of physicians’ medical questions, medical advice, counseling, or treatment regimen discussions, but the doctors were much more likely to express empathy, concern and understanding in interactions with patients of normal weight than with overweight and obese patients.