Some patients using weight loss drugs avoid their local pharmacy due to “stigma” around taking the medicines, new research by LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor has revealed.
Published today, the research surveyed 2,000 UK adults who were taking, considering taking or had previously taken weight management treatments.
It found that 16% of respondents have avoided collecting weight loss medicines from their local pharmacy to “conceal” the fact that they were using them.
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Some 83% of respondents felt there was a stigma attached to weight loss drugs, with 56% saying that this had “directly affected the way they use and access their treatment”.
A further 15% of respondents said they had delayed seeking clinical help due to “embarrassment”, while 14% reported ordering their medicine to a different address.
A quarter said they had lied about the methods they used to lose weight, and 51% reported keeping their use of weight loss treatments hidden from most of their loved ones.
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The research also explored the circumstances in which people deemed it justifiable to take weight loss medicine.
Some 38% believed it was “acceptable to use it because of public embarrassment about their weight”, while 49% said it was justified after attempting dieting and exercise but not achieving their ideal weight.
A further 56% felt it was acceptable to take weight loss medicine to address “a current health risk”, and 61% believed it was justified to reduce “the risk of long-term health problems”.
Stigma is “shaping decisions”
LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor associate medical director Dr Mitra Dutt said the findings suggest that “a significant number of people using weight management treatment perceive social stigma around it”.
Dutt said this is “shaping decisions about how and where people seek support and leading many to keep their treatment hidden from those closest to them”.
“The reality is that weight issues can affect long-term health and lead to other conditions, so wanting support to manage them is a completely valid reason to speak to a clinician,” she added.
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“Stigma must not be allowed to discourage people from seeking advice from qualified healthcare professionals. It is that personal advice, tailored to the individual, that gives any treatment the best possible chance of working and keeps people safe.”
It comes after a report by the parliamentary Health and Social Care Select Committee called for the government’s approach to weight loss management to be “fundamentally reimagined”.
And it follows new research from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry finding that access to weight loss drugs in Scotland can “vary widely between NHS boards”, with population measures “not fully” explaining the variations.
