title: [The fat doctor and the fat patient--can a doctor also be allowed to transgress?].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evaluation of opinions of patients with regard to an unhealthy lifestyle of the doctor and assessment as to whether or not this is dependent on the patient's own lifestyle (healthy or unhealthy).
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive questionnaire study.
  
  
  METHODS
  An online questionnaire was sent to 1000 members of a panel. They were asked to score a set of statements about their trust in a doctor who smokes, drinks or is overweight and the willingness to follow the advice of such a doctor. The items were scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neither agree nor disagree, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The respondents found it very important that doctors should serve as a role model. A striking finding was that two-thirds would follow the advice of a doctor who does not serve as a role model. Furthermore, smoking, drinking and overweight respondents were shown to have more trust in a smoking, drinking or overweight doctor than non-smokers, non-drinkers or respondents who are not overweight. Regarding the willingness to follow a doctor's advice, we found that drinking and overweight respondents were more likely to follow the advice of a drinking or overweight doctor than non-drinkers or respondents who are not overweight. We did not find a significant difference between smokers and non-smokers and their willingness to follow the advice from a smoking doctor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Respondents found it important that doctors serve as a role model. Yet, a majority of the respondents would follow the advice of a doctor who does not serve as a role model. Respondents who struggle with the same unhealthy lifestyle habits as their doctor reported that they are more likely to follow his or her advice than respondents who do not have these unhealthy lifestyle habits.
authors.affiliation: Nederlands instituut voor onderzoek van de gezondheidszorg (NIVEL), Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wendel
authors.forename: Romy E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Bes
authors.forename: Judith D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Francois G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Schellevis
authors.forename: Roland D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Friele
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires