Desejabilidade Social e Barreiras ao cumprimento da terapêutica dietética em mulheres com excesso de peso.

Abstract

Introduction: There are several barriers related to the non-accomplishment of the dietarytreatment of overweight. Social desirability (SD), defined as the tendency to transmita culturally accepted image, may bias parameters evaluated in scientific studies.Aims: (1) To evaluate SD in overweight women; (2) To evaluate the association betweenSD and other characteristics; (3) To compare the level of SD between patients evaluatedin their first appointment or in subsequent appointments; (4) To evaluate the differencesin the level of SD between patients who mention or not each barrier to theaccomplishment of the dietary treatment; (5) To evaluate the effect of SD in the frequencyof each statement pointed out as a barrier to the accomplishment of the dietary treatment.Sample and Methods: Sixty-seven women with BMI over 25,0 kg/m2 (mean BMI = 40,0kg/m2; sd= 5,7) and mean age of 40 years (sd = 11) were evaluated on age, education,height, present and desired weights, perception of heath condition, weight and bodyimage (Likert scale from 1 feels very well to 5 very bad). BMI, weight they desired toloose and corresponding BMI were calculated. The number of previous appointmentsand the date of the first appointment were registered and the time since the firstappointment was calculated. Psychopathologic characteristics were studied with thePsychological General Well-Being Index. Barriers to the accomplishment of the dietarytreatment were evaluated by pointing, from a list of 34 sentences mentioning obstaclesto its accomplishment, those which patients identified themselves with. SD wasevaluated with the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS).Results: Mean score on the MC-SDS was 20,9 (sd = 4,0). Positive and weak correlationswere found between SD and the number of previous appointments and time since thefirst appointment. Patients with previous appointments show significantly higher levelsof SD than those who were evaluated in their first appointment (means of 21,7 and18,8; p = 0,005). There weren't found significant differences on the level of SD ofpatients who pointed or not each sentence and it wasn't found a significant effect ofSD in the frequency of any sentence.Discussion: The mean score on the MC-SDS was higher than values found in themajority of studies, which may result from the higher age, lower education and thepresence of pathology. Previous contact with the patients seems to influence SD andmay bias and make difficult the interpretation of parameters measured by self-report.The identification of barriers to the accomplishment of the dietary treatment seems tobe independent from SD.