Discrepancy between Actual and Perceived Weight Status in Rural Patients: Variations by Race and Gender

The study’s goal was to determine if differences in weight misperception by race and/or gender occur within a sample of economically disadvantaged rural patients with diabetes and/or hypertension. Diabetic and hypertensive patients were enrolled in the study from a network of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in the rural South. Multivari-ate logistic regression analysis suggests that, even when controlling for age, education level, employment status, and poverty, rural African American patients with chronic disease are more likely than their White counterparts to misperceive their weight status (OR = 1.709, p = .037). This difference in perceived weight occurred despite the absence of an underlying difference in actual weight status between African American and White patients (p = .171). In addition, rural men were much more likely than rural women to misperceive their weight status (OR = 2.688, p < .001). Implications for intervention development and implementation are discussed.