Health Literacy and Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery

Background There are many factors that affect weight loss after bariatric surgery. The present study evaluated the impact of health literacy on weight loss after bariatric surgery in morbidly obese patients. Methods The data of 118 patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for morbid obesity (body mass index-BMI ≥ 40 kg/m 2 ) and completed a 1-year follow-up period were recorded and evaluated, prospectively. The Turkish version of the 47-item European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) was used to evaluate the health literacy of these patients. Their demographic characteristics, preoperative and postoperative weight (at 6 and 12 months), BMI, the percentage of excess weight loss (% EWL), excess BMI loss (% EBL) and total weight loss (%TWL), comorbidities, socioeconomic characteristics (marital status, income level, educational status, and duration), and HLS-EU-Q47 results were recorded and compared. Results A significant inverse relationship was identified between preoperative BMI and scores for health promotion health literacy and general health literacy indexes ( p = 0.024 and p = 0.032, respectively). A significant positive relationship was noted between % EWL and % EBL at 6 and 12 months, and health promotion health literacy index scores (6 months: p = 0.004, p = 0.006; 12 months: p