PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Pichamol Jirapinyo AU - Barham K Abu Dayyeh AU - Christopher C Thompson TI - Weight regain after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass has a large negative impact on the Bariatric Quality of Life Index AID - 10.1136/bmjgast-2017-000153 DP - 2017 Sep 01 TA - BMJ Open Gastroenterology PG - e000153 VI - 4 IP - 1 4099 - http://bmjopengastro.bmj.com//content/4/1/e000153.short 4100 - http://bmjopengastro.bmj.com//content/4/1/e000153.full AB - 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.