Abstract

Background
The increasing prevalence of obesity requires especially primary health care providers to act. General Practitioners (GP) in particular have the opportunity to motivate patients in early risk stages to follow weight reduction programmes before manifestation of associated diseases. In order to conduct preventive consultancies it is necessary to explore the individual physical and mental health status of patients. Aim of this study was to examine quality of life and perceived level of stress in overweight and obese patients treated in primary care.
Material and Method
123 patients, following a health Check up realized by their GP, rated self- reported questionnaires regarding quality of life and perceived level of stress (SF-12, PSS). Following descriptive analysis, differences in dependent variables related to BMI, sex and age were tested using ANOVA and regression analysis (SPSSv15.0).
Results
Restrictions in all parameters of mental health for overweight and obese patients in primary care were shown. Especially patients with a BMI above 30 kg/m2 reported a decreased level of quality of life.
Conclusions
Health care providers should be aware of cumulative restrictions in mental health of their overweight patients. The findings provide essential implications for all health care professionals in primary care doing preventive consultancies with obese clients.

Keywords: Quality of Life - psychology, Sex Factors, Stress, Psychological - psychology, Primary Health Care - methods, Overweight - psychology, Obesity - psychology, Germany, Body Mass Index, Analysis of Variance