Development of the Weight and Emotions Scale (WES)

ABSTRACT Objective Obesity and overweight are associated with significant psychosocial burden. Existing patient‐reported outcome (PRO) measures only assess a subset of emotion‐related concepts that are relevant to individuals living with these conditions. The Weight and Emotions Scale (WES) was developed to enable robust evaluation of the impact of obesity or overweight and the benefits of treatment on patients' emotional functioning. Methods The WES was developed based on findings from interviews with participants ( N = 40) exiting a Phase 2 trial for retatrutide (NCT04881760), a targeted literature review, and interviews with clinicians specialized in obesity medicine ( N = 3). Cognitive interviews were conducted with adults with obesity/overweight and ≥ 1 obesity‐related complication ( N = 20) to evaluate the WES content. Results All cognitive interview participants expressed a positive overall impression of the WES, reported that they understood the instructions, response options, and recall period, and that the questions were easy to answer. Most items (75%) were understood by all the participants and were rated as “very important” or “moderately important” by ≥ 75% of the participants. The WES is a new 16‐item PRO measure evaluating 13 emotion‐related concepts. Conclusions The WES may be used in clinical trials, observational research, or clinical practice to robustly assess the impact of obesity or overweight and the benefits of treatment on patients' emotional functioning.