An obesity educational intervention for medical students addressing weight bias and communication skills using standardized patients

Table 2 Sixteen item questionnaire used to assess student attitudes, beliefs and counseling confidence with an overweight or obese standardized patient

Scale	Items
	1. Obese individuals have lower will-power than non-obese people
	2. Individuals are obese due to making poor personal choices
	3. Life events and our environment make weight loss difficult
Negative Obesity Stereotypes	4. Obesity is complex, due to genetics, biology and behavior
	5. Obese individuals are lazier than non-obese people
	6. Obese people are more emotional than non-obese people
	7. Obese individuals don't make good decisions
	8. Obese individuals have themselves to blame
	9. Obese individuals are generally not assertive enough
	10. Obese people feel stigmatized in our society
Empathy for Obese Patients	11. Obese people feel stigmatized by the medical profession
	12. Very few obese are ashamed of their weight
	13. I am uncomfortable being around obese people
Confidence in Clinical Interaction with Obese Patients	14. I feel comfortable talking to people about their weight
	15. I know what meaningful questions to ask to take a body weight history
	16. I know what meaningful questions to ask to help obese people manage their weight

Students indicated response using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1).
Items 3, 4 and 13 did not improve scale reliability and were therefore not included in the scale analysis.
Item 12 was reversed coded.

ISSN: 1472-6920