Article Text
Abstract
Background Despite initial successful weight loss, some patients may experience weight regain following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB).
Objective To assess the impact of weight regain on bariatric patients’ quality of life (QoL).
Methods This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Fifty-six consecutive RYGB patients were recruited and divided into weight-regain and weight-stable cohorts. QoL was assessed using the Bariatric Quality of Life (BQL) questionnaire. The BQL Index scores of the weight-regain and weight-stable groups were compared using Student’s t-test. Additionally, the BQL Index score of the weight-regain group was compared with that of historical prebariatric patients. Predictors of BQL were assessed using univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses.
Results Of 56 RYGB patients, 41 (73%) had weight regain. On average, patients had body mass index (BMI) of 37 ±7.5 kg/m2 and gained 34 ±26% of maximal weight initially lost. Weight-regain patients had lower BQL Index scores than weight-stable patients (44.8±6 vs 53±7, p<0.001). Patients with weight regain had similar BQL Index scores as the prebariatric patients despite lower BMI (BMI of 39.7±6.8 vs 47.2±7.6, p<0.05; BQL Index of 44.8±6 vs 41.6±10.4, p=0.144, respectively). Years from RYGB, BMI and amount of weight regain were associated with BQL Index on a univariate analysis (β=−0.55,−0.52, −0.7; p<0.0001). Only weight regain was a significant predictor of BQL on a multivariate analysis (β =−0.56; p=0.001).
Conclusion Weight regain had a negative impact on bariatric patients’ QoL. Patients who regained at least 15% of maximal weight lost appeared to have as low QoL as those who had not undergone bariatric surgery despite a lower BMI.
- weight regain
- bariatric surgery
- RYGB
- quality of life
- HRQL
- BQL
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Footnotes
Contributors PJ: data collection and analysis; drafting of the manuscript. BKAD: data collection and analysis. CT: study design, critical revision of the manuscript.
Funding The project was supported by the Clinical Translational Science Award from the National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR025758) and the Harvard Digestive Diseases Center at Harvard Medical School (DK034854).
Competing interests None declared.
Ethics approval Institutional review board.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement Inquiries regarding access to the data should be addressed to the corresponding author and will be reviewed by the institutional review board.