Examining the Effect of Role-playing Exercise by Utilizing an Obesity Suit in a Simulation Scenario on Weight Bias and Empathy Levels Among Nutrition Sciences Students

Obesity Clinical Trial

Official title:

Examining the Effect of Role-playing Exercise by Utilizing an Obesity Suit in a Simulation Scenario on Weight Bias and Empathy Levels Among Nutrition Sciences Students

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06192537
• Other study ID #: AU-HEA-SS-20231016-2
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 1, 2024
• Est. completion date: December 1, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: December 2023
• Source: Ariel University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

A quasi-experimental design (i.e., "One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design") will be applied among 40 convenient samples of undergraduate students in their first year of nutrition sciences program at Ariel University and Tel-Hai College. The intervention will take place at the simulation centers of the institutions. All participants will be asked to wear an obesity simulation suit (Unisex obesity Simulation suit, Erler-Zimmer, Germany) and to participate in a standardized scenario that simulates meetings between a person with obesity and a 'registered dietitian'. The 'registered dietitian' will be presented by a professional role-player and the scenario will encompass different levels of weight bias. At baseline, 1- and 3-week post-intervention both groups will be asked to fill in a survey using "Qualtrics" software. The survey will include the Anti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire (AFA), the Short-Form of Fat-Phobia scale (F-scale), the Weight-Implicit Association-Test (weight-IAT), and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. Data on demographics, weight history, and perception, measurement of actual weight and height, and the beliefs about the causes of obesity questionnaire will be collected at baseline.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 40
• Est. completion date: December 1, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: December 1, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• undergraduate students in their first year of the nutrition sciences program at Ariel University or Tel-Hai College

• age =18 years

• having fluency in Hebrew

• ability to wear an obesity suit

• willingness to participate in the study

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Body Weight
• Obesity

Intervention

Behavioral:
• A role-playing exercise by utilizing an obesity suit in a simulation scenario
All participants will be asked to wear an obesity simulation suit (Unisex obesity Simulation suit, Erler-Zimmer, Germany) and to participate in a standardized scenario that simulates meetings between a person with obesity and a 'registered dietitian'. The 'registered dietitian' will be presented by a professional role-player and the scenario will encompass different levels of weight bias through dialogue and the use of inappropriate equipment.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Israel	Ariel University	Ariel

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Ariel University	Tel Hai College

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Israel, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Anti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire ('AFA')	The 'AFA' indicates explicit anti-fat attitudes toward people with obesity and is composed of 13-items rated on a 10-point Likert scale and divided into three subscales ('dislike', 'fear about fat' and 'willpower'), with higher total scores indicating stronger anti-fat attitudes.	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention
Primary	The short-form of fat-phobia scale (' F-scale')	The 'F-scale' indicates fat-phobic attitudes toward people with obesity and is composed of 14-pairs of adjectives that are used to describe people with obesity (e.g., 'no willpower' vs. 'has willpower') and ranked on a 1-5 scale according to the point closest to the adjective name that describes their feelings and beliefs. Higher scores indicate stronger fat-phobic attitudes.	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention
Primary	Weight Implicit Association Test ('IAT')	IAT tool is an indirect measure of implicit bias toward weight which uses the constructs of "fat people" versus "thin people" and the polarized attitudes of "good" and "bad" to detect implicit weight bias.	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention
Primary	The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (S-version)	A 20-item scale that is designed to measure empathy in medical students.	Change from baseline at three- weeks post-intervention
Secondary	Demographics	Questions regarding age, gender, occupation, marital status, and religious affiliation.	At baseline
Secondary	Weight perception	Questions regarding self-definition of weight status, the importance of weight to self-confidence, and much control a person has over the weight.	At baseline
Secondary	Weight history	Questions regarding obesity during childhood, obesity during last decade, family members who struggle with obesity, currently in any process of losing weight.	At baseline
Secondary	Objective weight measurement	Measurement of actual weight in kilograms.	At baseline
Secondary	Objective height measurement	Measurement of actual height in meters.	At baseline
Secondary	The beliefs about the causes of obesity questionnaire	Rating the importance of 20 factors contributing to obesity by using a 5-point Likert-scale response format.	At baseline