SHANITA DOMINIQUE GEORGE. ASSESSING THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF IMPLICIT WEIGHT BIAS TOWARD PATIENTS AMONG ANESTHESIA PROVIDERS. (Under the direction of DR. DAVID LANGFORD)
Social disparities and implicit bias have been identified as a potential issue that can be detrimental to patient care. Research has shown that implicit bias hinders rapport between patient and provider, leading to patients becoming resistant to medical advice and treatment protocols. Therefore, existing levels of implicit bias create a need for healthcare systems to recognize and understand the levels of implicit bias among providers and the ramifications that implicit bias could induce. This quality improvement doctoral project aimed to assess and establish a baseline level of existing weight bias among anesthesia providers in urban health system facilities. The author utilized the Harvard Implicit Association (IAT) Weight test as an assessment tool to garner a baseline level of implicit bias among anesthesia providers. There was a total of 46 individuals who participated in this project, the majority worked at a regional tertiary care hospital. The IAT results disclosed anesthesia providers to have a slight-moderate preference for thinner people compared to heavier people.
Keywords: Implicit bias in healthcare, Implicit Association Test, bias, obesity, obesity stigma, weight bias, overweight bias, effects of weight bias in healthcare.