The assesment of subjective weight status, self-perceived health, the relationship of eating behavior and weight control among chronic disease patients

Aim of the study. To analyse the subjective perception of self-rated health, weight status and to determine the relation between eating behavior and weight control among chronic disease patients. Objectives. 1. To analyse patients‘ subjective assesment of weight status and self-rated health. 2. To assess eating behavior and its characteristics. 3. To determine the relation between eating behavior types and weight control. Participants. Patients (n=106) were from LSMU KK: Family Medicine clinic, Cardiology clinic, Endocrinology clinic and “Altamedica“ family medicine centre. The mean age of respondents was 47 years. BMI variates from 25.10 to 39.56 kg/m2. Methodology. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out using anonymous questionnaire. Three factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ-R18), Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire short form (WEL-SF), Weight Control: Stages of Change Questionnaire (short form) and Obesity Knowledge Questionnaire (ORK-10) were used in the study. The data were analysed using univariate and bivariate analysis. Results. The majority (42%) of patients assessed their own weight as excessive, about one-third (31%) consider it as normal and a quarter perceives it as extremely over-large, while significant differences were found when evaluating association with BMI (p = 0.023). Most of respondents (41%) assessed their health as an average. At least half of the patients followed a regular diet regime and 43 % were snacking, gender differences were not identified (p> 0.05). In the study sample dominant type of eating behavior was emotional eating, meanwhile the cognitive restraint was the rarest. The type of eating behavior was not specific to the patient's demographic and clinical indicators (p> 0.05). According to the stages of weight control changes, the majority of patients were in the precontemplation or contemplation stages. Also, the patients‘ knowledge of the potential risks of obesity to a person's health was associated with more active behavior in controlling own body weight (ρ = 0.361; p