The Impact of Health Policy on Patients’ Awareness of the Risks Associated with Obesity: An International Multicenter Study in Poland and Germany

Abstract

Background

Recent studies indicate that the treatment of obesity is unsuccessful. The cause of this situation is that patients are not sufficiently educated about therapeutic methods and the health consequences of not treating obesity. Moreover, obesity prevention strategies differ significantly between EU countries.

Objective

The primary aim of this study was to examine and compare the level of obesity-related knowledge and illness perception among obese patients from Poland and Germany.

Methods

A prospective cross-sectional international multicentre study was conducted. The study included 564 subjects above 18 years old (210 German patients and 354 Polish patients) with obesity. A validated custom-made questionnaire was used to evaluate obesity-related knowledge. Patient illness perception was evaluated using Polish and German language versions of the standardized Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ).

Results

Obese patients from Germany had significantly higher level of obesity-related knowledge than patients from Poland (22.01 ± 4.68 vs 19.17 ± 6.59, p<0.0001). Obesity-related knowledge was associated with the patient’s education, patient participation in therapeutic educational programs, patient’s perception of the illness, age and the number of healthcare professionals involved in the patient’s treatment process.

Conclusion

The level of obesity-related knowledge among both Polish and German patients is unsatisfactory. This study suggests that health education is required to facilitate informed choices and support the use of cognitive approaches educating patients on the health consequences of obesity.

Keywords:

• obesity
• patient education
• health education
• health behaviour
• illness perception

Abbreviations

EU, European Union; WHO, World Health Organization; B-IPQ, Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire; MMK (in German: Multimodales Therapiekonzept; in English: Concept of Multimodal Therapy); AOK (in German: Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse; in English: General regional health insurance); Me, median; SD, standard deviation; PL, Poland; DE, Germany.

Data Sharing Statement

The dataset generated and analysed in this study is not publicly available but may be obtained from the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.

Ethics Approval

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. All procedures involving human patients were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Poznan University of Medical Sciences and by the ethics commission of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, an informed, written consent to attend the study protocol was granted by all participants.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest for this work.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.