Perception of obesity and health-oriented behaviours in the group of medical employees

Abstract

Introduction. The attitude and the personal health-oriented habits of medical employees may have significant impact on achieving desired targets of prophylaxis and therapy of civilisation diseases. It is common in the Polish healthcare system that neither clinical physicians nor GPs apply any prophylaxis or treatment to their overweight or obese patients. It may result from healthcare workers’ perception of obesity as regards their own health behaviours and habits.

Aim. The aim of this work is to identify the correlation between the perception of obesity and health-oriented behaviours among people responsible for the promotion of the healthy life style.

Materials and methods. The study was carried out from January 2009 to March 2009 and 94 persons who had been working as healthcare workers (medical doctors or nurses) for at least three years were tested. The age of the questioned individuals ranged from 26 to 45 years. The medium age in the group was M=31.89 (SD=5.077). Women were the majority of the medical staff members: 61 women (64.9%) compared to 33 men (35.1%). Two questionnaires were used in the study: the Imagination and Perception of Illness Scale, by J. Sak and the Inventory of Health Behaviours by Z. Juczyński

Conclusions. Medical employees perceive obesity mainly as the destruction of physical sphere and psychical sphere. No statistically significant differences have been found between male and female healthcare workers with regard to their perception of obesity. Medical employees’ perception of obesity is dependent on their commitment to health-oriented behaviours. Medical employees’ health-oriented behaviours and beliefs are conducive to better understanding of psychological nature of people with obesity. Medical employees perform health-oriented behaviours and preventive practices more often if they perceive obesity as a burden for a patient’s environment. Promoting good health habits in order to prevent medical staff from obesity should focus on obese patient’s dependence on help from relatives and on burden they may pose on society.