ESTIGMA EN OBESIDAD: VALIDACIÓN AL ESPAÑOL DE LA ESCALA DE CREENCIAS SOBRE LAS PERSONAS CON OBESIDAD (BELIEFS ABOUT OBESE PERSONS SCALE - BAOP)

Abstract

Introduction: Stigma towards people with obesity perpetuates the pathology. If discrimination is carried out by health professionals, it distances people from the health care system. Objective: to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Scale of Beliefs about Obese People (BAOP) adapted to Spanish in a sample of health professionals in Argentina. Materials and methods: 186 participants (71.5% women, mean age 38 ± 46 years, mean BMI: 23.4 ± 27 kg/m2; mean time since graduation 12.2 ± 19.7 years) completed an online questionnaire with demographic data, the Scale of Beliefs about Obese People (BAOP) adapted to Spanish and the Scale of Antifat Attitudes (AFA). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis showed a 3-factor solution that accounts for the 42% of the variance of the scores (KMO =.69; x72= 6.28, p = .51). Cronbach's Alpha coefficient indicated an acceptable reliability of 0.60. Pearson's correlation coefficients showed a significant negative association with older age and graduation time (Years of graduation: r = -.21, p < .01; Age: r = -.20, p < .01) suggesting that the older is the time of graduation and the age of the professional, the higher the level of stigma recorded. The stigmatizing beliefs that reached the highest level of agreement were poor eating habits (mean = -2.11) and sedentary lifestyle (mean =-1.41). Conclusion: The adaptation to Spanish of the BAOP scale show acceptable levels of validity and reliability to assess stigma towards people with obesity. In the sample of health professionals, a higher level of stigma is observed at older ages and longer professional registration. Sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits were the stigmatizing beliefs with the highest level of agreement. Keywords: Stigma; obesity; discrimination; barriers in obesity.