Preoperative psychological characteristics affecting mid-term outcome after bariatric surgery: a follow-up study

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between preoperative psychological factors and percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) to identify possible psychological therapy targets to improve the outcome of bariatric surgery. Methods Seventy-six patients completed the Hamilton's Anxiety and Depression Scales (HAM-A, HAM-D) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) the day before surgery (T0). The pre-operative body weight and the %TWL at 3 (T1), 6 (T2), and 24–30 (T3) months were collected. Results At T3, depressed and alexithymic patients showed a lower %TWL compared to non-depressed patients ( p = 0.03) and to non-alexithymic patients ( p = 0.02), respectively. Finally, patients who had at least one of the three analyzed psychological factors showed less weight loss, at T2 ( p = 0.02) and T3 ( p = 0.0004). Conclusions Psychological factors may also affect long-term outcome of bariatric surgery. This study shows an association between alexithymia/depression pre-operative levels and the weight loss at 30 months’follow-up after bariatric surgery. Level of evidence Level III, longitudinal cohort study.