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

Obesity Clinical Trial

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04161638
• Other study ID #: H16-292HHC
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 22, 2016
• Est. completion date: January 11, 2019

Study information

• Verified date: May 2022
• Source: University of Connecticut
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 49
• Est. completion date: January 11, 2019
• Est. primary completion date: January 11, 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 20 Years to 50 Years

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Blood Pressure
• Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor
• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Obesity
• Stigma, Social

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Stigma Video Exposure
The participants watched a 10 minute video on a computer screen that consisted of brief clips from popular television shows that depicted women with overweight and obesity and evoked negative weight-based stereotypes (e.g., clumsy, loud, and lazy). Both the high blood pressure and normal blood pressure arms participated in this intervention.
• Neutral video exposure
The participants watched a 10 minute video on a computer screen that consisted of a series of clips depicting neutral scenes (e.g., insurance commercials). Both the high blood pressure and normal blood pressure arms participated in this intervention.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Connecticut	Hartford Hospital

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Ambulatory systolic BP (SABP) reactivity	Ambulatory SABP reactivity was calculated as the change in hourly SABP values (mmHg) over the awake (10 hours), sleep (9 hours), and 19 hours minus average baseline SABP following STIGMA and NEUTRAL.	19 hours (10 hours awake, 9 hours sleep)
Secondary	Laboratory systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity	Laboratory SBP reactivity was calculated as the change in SBP in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) during the stigma video exposure (STIGMA) and the neutral video exposure (NEUTRAL) and 20-minute post-STIGMA and NEUTRAL minus baseline SBP.	20 minutes (2 minute intervals) before the exposure video; 10 minutes during the exposure video (2 min intervals); and 20 minutes following the exposure video (2 min. intervals).
Secondary	Ambulatory diastolic BP (DABP) reactivity	Ambulatory DABP reactivity was calculated as the change in hourly DABP values (mmHg) over the awake (10 hours), sleep (9 hours), and 19 hours minus average baseline DABP following STIGMA and NEUTRAL.	19 hours (10 hours awake, 9 hours sleep)
Secondary	Laboratory diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity	Laboratory DBP reactivity was calculated as the change in DBP in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) during the stigma video exposure (STIGMA) and the neutral video exposure (NEUTRAL) and 20-minute post-STIGMA and NEUTRAL minus baseline DBP.	20 minutes (2 minute intervals) before the exposure video; 10 minutes during the exposure video (2 min intervals); and 20 minutes following the exposure video (2 min. intervals).
Secondary	Laboratory heart rate (HR) reactivity	Laboratory HR reactivity was calculated as the change in HR in beats per minute (bpm) during the stigma video exposure (STIGMA) and the neutral video exposure (NEUTRAL) and 20-minute post-STIGMA and NEUTRAL minus baseline BP.	20 minutes (2 minute intervals) before the exposure video; 10 minutes during the exposure video (2 min intervals); and 20 minutes following the exposure video (2 min. intervals).
Secondary	Ambulatory heart rate (HR) reactivity	Ambulatory heart rate (HR) reactivity was calculated as the change in hourly HR values (bpm) over the awake (10 hours), sleep (9 hours), and 19 hours minus average baseline HR following STIGMA and NEUTRAL.	19 hours (10 hours awake, 9 hours sleep)
Secondary	Ambulatory rate pressure product (RPP) reactivity	Ambulatory RPP reactivity in mmHg*bpm was calculated as ambulatory SBP cardiovascular reactivity (mmHg) multiplied by ambulatory HR reactivity (bpm) (i.e., SBP x HR).	19 hours (10 hours awake, 9 hours sleep)
Secondary	Laboratory rate pressure product (RPP) reactivity	Laboratory RPP reactivity in mmHg*bpm was calculated as laboratory SBP cardiovascular reactivity (mmHg) multiplied by laboratory HR reactivity (bpm) (i.e., SBP x HR).	20 minutes (2 minute intervals) before the exposure video; 10 minutes during the exposure video (2 min intervals); and 20 minutes following the exposure video (2 min. intervals).