Examining the Effect of Role-playing Exercise by Utilizing an Obesity Suit in a Simulation Scenario on Weight Bias and Empathy Levels Among Nutrition Sciences Students

Not Applicable

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Bias, Weight; Obesity

• Registration Number: NCT06192537
• Lead Sponsor: Ariel University

Brief Summary

A quasi-experimental design (i.e., "One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design") will be applied among 40 convenient samples of undergraduate students in their first year of nutrition sciences program at Ariel University and Tel-Hai College. The intervention will take place at the simulation centers of the institutions. All participants will be asked to wear an obesity simulation suit (Unisex obesity Simulation suit, Erler-Zimmer, Germany) and to participate in a standardized scenario that simulates meetings between a person with obesity and a 'registered dietitian'. The 'registered dietitian' will be presented by a professional role-player and the scenario will encompass different levels of weight bias. At baseline, 1- and 3-week post-intervention both groups will be asked to fill in a survey using "Qualtrics" software. The survey will include the Anti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire (AFA), the Short-Form of Fat-Phobia scale (F-scale), the Weight-Implicit Association-Test (weight-IAT), and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. Data on demographics, weight history, and perception, measurement of actual weight and height, and the beliefs about the causes of obesity questionnaire will be collected at baseline.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2023-12
• Study First Submitted: 2023-12-21
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-12-21
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-12-21
• Study First Posted: 2024-01-05
• Last Update Posted: 2024-01-05
• Study Start: 2024-03-01
• Primary Completion: 2024-12-01
• Study Completion: 2024-12-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

• undergraduate students in their first year of the nutrition sciences program at Ariel University or Tel-Hai College
• age ≥18 years
• having fluency in Hebrew
• ability to wear an obesity suit
• willingness to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Anti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire ('AFA')	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention	The 'AFA' indicates explicit anti-fat attitudes toward people with obesity and is composed of 13-items rated on a 10-point Likert scale and divided into three subscales ('dislike', 'fear about fat' and 'willpower'), with higher total scores indicating stronger anti-fat attitudes.
The short-form of fat-phobia scale (' F-scale')	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention	The 'F-scale' indicates fat-phobic attitudes toward people with obesity and is composed of 14-pairs of adjectives that are used to describe people with obesity (e.g., 'no willpower' vs. 'has willpower') and ranked on a 1-5 scale according to the point closest to the adjective name that describes their feelings and beliefs. Higher scores indicate stronger fat-phobic attitudes.
Weight Implicit Association Test ('IAT')	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention	IAT tool is an indirect measure of implicit bias toward weight which uses the constructs of "fat people" versus "thin people" and the polarized attitudes of "good" and "bad" to detect implicit weight bias.
The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (S-version)	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention	A 20-item scale that is designed to measure empathy in medical students.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Demographics	At baseline	Questions regarding age, gender, occupation, marital status, and religious affiliation.
Weight history	At baseline	Questions regarding obesity during childhood, obesity during last decade, family members who struggle with obesity, currently in any process of losing weight.
The beliefs about the causes of obesity questionnaire	At baseline	Rating the importance of 20 factors contributing to obesity by using a 5-point Likert-scale response format.
Weight perception	At baseline	Questions regarding self-definition of weight status, the importance of weight to self-confidence, and much control a person has over the weight.
Objective weight measurement	At baseline	Measurement of actual weight in kilograms.
Objective height measurement	At baseline	Measurement of actual height in meters.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Ariel University; 🇮🇱 Ariel, Israel