Pessoas com excesso de peso: Aspectos psicossociais relacionados à qualidade de vida e à imagem corporal

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the Quality of Life and body image of overweight people and the psychosocial aspects experienced by these people. There was a non-probabilistic and accidental participation of 58 people who were overweight and obes, with ages varying from 18 to 66 years (M=38,53; DP=10,69), being the majority female (81%). Besides that, for the interview procedure, 17 people who were approached according to availability, following the saturation criterion. The following instruments were used to collect data: Sociodemographic questionnaire, questionnaire Impact of Weight on Quality of Life-Lite (Iwqol-Lite), The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-bref), the Stunkard Figure Rating Scale (FRS) and Interview. For the socioeconomic characterization and analysis of the data derived from the quantitative instruments,analyzes of descriptive and bivariate statistics were performed, using the statistical program SPSS, version 20.0. For the analysis of the contents from the interviews, the thematic categorical analysis was used. In the General Factor of the QV, the participants had a mean positive score of 53.4 (SD = 10.4), showing a relatively good QV. In the evaluation by factors, the results indicated low levels of QV in the Environment domain and better levels of QV in the Social Relations domain. The evaluation of QV by means of the specific instrument showed a positive mean score of 3.3 (SD = 0.9). In the assessment by factors, the Sexual Life dimension was the one with the best mean score. Otherwise, the Physical Function dimension was the one with the lowest score with a mean below the cut-off point of 2.9 (SD = 1.0). Regarding Body Image, it was verified that none of the participants was satisfied with their body image.From the analysis of the interviews, three thematic classes emerged, 9 categories, and 11 subcategories, namely: Thematic Class I: Explanations for being overweight (categories: Individual Factors, Social Factors and Programmatic Factors), Thematic Class II – Life quality (categories: Individual Factors and Social Factors) and Thematic Class III - Body Image (categories: Dissatisfaction with image, Dissatisfaction with being overweight, preconception and self acceptance. It is concluded that the evaluation of quality of life and body image should be performed considering the various aspects, including people life conditions, social support and intersubjective processes. In other studies, intersubjective aspects, such as loss of occupational roles, diseases and affective relationships, should be considered, as well as the adoption of criteria of a varied nature - biological, psychological and sociocultural - since these elements are related potentialities to health and life, and may interfere in health-disease processes.