Trial reportInternational journal of obesity (2005)2011
Medical student bias and care recommendations for an obese versus non-obese virtual patient.
Trial report in International journal of obesity (2005), 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cybersickness Variability by Race: Findings From 6 Studies and a Mini Meta-analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- The use of virtual reality in studying prejudice and its reduction: A systematic review.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Brief intervention effective in reducing weight bias in medical students.Family medicine · 2013Trial
- Comparative Perspectives on Obesity From Medical Students, Practitioners, and Non-medical Students.Cureus · 2026Article
- Obesity simulation suits in health professions education: a scoping review.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- The burden of bias: Patient experiences and providers' perspectives on weight bias.Obesity pillars · 2026Article
- Weight Bias Interventions for Healthcare Professionals: An Integrative Review.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Review
- Do patients with migraine and obesity receive different treatments? Insights from real-world data.Headache · 2026Article
- Promoting Empathy in Audiology Education Through Virtual Reality and Tactile Technologies: A Pilot Study for Patient-Centered Care in Individuals with Hearing Loss and Manual Dexterity Limitations.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- Understanding Differences in Medical Student Perceptions of Treatment Adherence Based on Weight Status in Pediatric Care.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2025Article
- Assessing weight bias among Turkish dietitians: determinants and impact on professional practice.BMC medical education · 2025Observational
- Teaching gene-environment interaction concepts with narrative vignettes: Effects on knowledge, stigma, and behavior motivation.PloS one · 2024Article
- The Relationship between Body Weight and Primary Healthcare Visits.Population research and policy review · 2023Article
- Eating Disorder Screening and Treatment in a Medically Underserved Southern State: Data Collected by a Legislative Eating Disorder Council and Implications for Statewide Assessment.Administration and policy in mental health · 2023Article
- The Effect of a Multifaceted Intervention Including Classroom Education and Bariatric Weight Suit Use on Medical Students' Attitudes toward Patients with Obesity.Obesity facts · 2023Article
- Planning a Collection of Virtual Patients to Train Clinical Reasoning: A Blueprint Representative of the European Population.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Outcomes, Measurement Instruments, and Their Validity Evidence in Randomized Controlled Trials on Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality in Undergraduate Medical Education: Systematic Mapping Review.JMIR serious games · 2022Review
- A model of weight-based stigma in health care and utilization outcomes: Evidence from the learning health systems network.Obesity science & practice · 2022Article
- Empathy as a Factor Conditioning Attitudes towards the Elderly among Physiotherapists-Results from Poland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Experiences of weight stigmatization in the Israeli healthcare system among overweight and obese individuals.Israel journal of health policy research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study examined the independent effect of a patient's weight on medical students' attitudes, beliefs and interpersonal behavior toward the patient, in addition to the clinical recommendations they make for her care.
designA total of 76 clinical-level medical students were randomly assigned to interact with a digital, virtual female patient who was visibly either obese or non-obese.
methodsInteractions with the patient took place in an immersive virtual (virtual reality) clinical environment that allowed standardization of all patient behaviors and characteristics except for weight. Visual contact behavior was automatically recorded during the interaction. Afterward, participants filled out a battery of self-report questionnaires.
resultsAnalyses revealed more negative stereotyping, less anticipated patient adherence, worse perceived health, more responsibility attributed for potentially weight-related presenting complaints and less visual contact directed toward the obese version of a virtual patient than the non-obese version of the patient. In contrast, there was no clear evidence of bias in clinical recommendations made for the patient's care.
conclusionBiases in attitudes, beliefs and interpersonal behavior have important implications because they can influence the tone of clinical encounters and rapport in the patient-provider relationship, which can have important downstream consequences. Gaining a clear understanding of the nature and source of weight bias in the clinical encounter is an important first step toward the development of strategies to address it.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.