Weight Stigma in Women Who Are Obese: Assessing How an Acute Exposure to Stigma Negatively Impacts Cardiovascular Health

University of Connecticut

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity; Stigma, Social; Blood Pressure; Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor

Treatments: Behavioral: Neutral video exposure; Behavioral: Stigma Video Exposure

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04161638

H16-292HHC

Details and patient eligibility

About

The current study examined the influence of an acute weight stigma exposure on cardiovascular reactivity among women with obesity and high blood pressure and women with obesity and normal blood pressure.

Full description

The current study examined the influence of two video exposures, one containing scenes of weight stigma (STIGMA) and the other non-stigmatizing neutral (NEUTRAL) scenes, on cardiovascular reactivity as assessed by resting BP and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and heart rate (HR), among women with obesity and high BP (HBP) or normal BP (NBP). The investigators hypothesized that as a result of STIGMA compared to NEUTRAL, cardiovascular reactivity would be significantly greater immediately upon watching the video and persist outside of the laboratory over ambulatory conditions in women with obesity and HBP compared to women with obesity and NBP.

Enrollment: 49 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 20 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Premenopausal
• BMI > 30 kg/m2
• No other known chronic cardiovascular or metabolic diseases besides hypertension

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnant or planned on becoming pregnant
• Took medications that may have affected the primary outcome of BP (e.g., stimulants for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or steroids for asthma)
• Currently using tobacco products
• Diagnosed with an eating disorder

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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49 participants in 2 patient groups

High Blood Pressure

Experimental group

Description:

Ambulatory BP measurement was used to confirm the laboratory BP group classification according to the European Society of Hypertension. Participants were placed in the high blood pressure (HBP) group if they met any of the following criteria: 1) 19-hour average systolic BP/diastolic BP (SBP/DBP) \> 130/80 mmHg, 2) daytime (awake) average SBP/DBP \> 135/85 mmHg, or 3) nighttime (sleep) average SBP/DBP \> 120/70 mmHg.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Stigma Video Exposure

Behavioral: Neutral video exposure

Normal Blood Pressure

Experimental group

Description:

Participants were placed in the normal BP (NBP) group if they met all of the following criteria: 1) 19-hour average SBP/DBP \< 130/80 mmHg, 2) daytime (awake) average SBP/DBP \< 135/85 mmHg, and 3) night-time (asleep) average SBP/DBP \<120/70 mmHg.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Stigma Video Exposure

Behavioral: Neutral video exposure