Assessment of body perception, psychological distress, and subjective quality of life among obese and nonobese subjects in Turkey

Abstract

Background: Obesity can lead to psychological, social, and medical problems that may negatively affect the quality of life Aim: In our study, we aimed to evaluate the body perception, psychological distress, and subjective quality of life of obese subjects in comparison with normal weighted ones.

Methods: A total of 494 subjects, aged between 18 and 64 years, were included to the study. Patients with the body mass index (BMI) of ≥18.5–24.9 kg/m² were assigned to the control group; BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² were  assigned to the obese patient group. An ethical committee approval with protocol No. of 2011/242 was  obtained from the Ethical Committee of Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine. Interviews  were performed two times with obese subjects in the 1st and the 6th month of weight loss program, once with the control group. Data identification form, the form which included the biochemical parameters, Trait  Anxiety inventory, State anxiety scale, Quality of Life scale-Short Form [(SF-36)(QOL)], Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), Zung Depression Rating Scale, and Zung Anxiety Rating Scale were applied to participants.

Results: Obesity is more common in women. Obesity reduces the quality of life, negatively affects body perception, and triggers anxiety. Because of their body structure, obese individuals are exposed to social pressure and unethical attitudes.

Conclusions: Both health risks and social implications of obesity are important. Further studies are needed to ethically evaluate the psycho-social problems caused by obesity.

Keywords: Obesity, body perception, quality of life, obesity and depression, obesity, and ethics