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Health-Related Quality of Life, Anxiety, and Depression in Bariatric Surgery Candidates Compared to Patients from a Psychosomatic Inpatient Hospital

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Abstract

Background and Aim

Past research indicated high psychiatric comorbidity and poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients seeking surgical treatment for obesity. This study investigated if preoperative bariatric surgery patients perceive equally poor HRQOL and increased levels of anxiety and depression as mentally ill patients.

Methods

The study included four groups: 192 bariatric surgery candidates (PRE, 71% women, BMI 48.35 ± 8.98 kg/m2), 96 psychotherapy inpatients with mental disorders (PSY, 77% women, BMI 27.12 ± 9.17 kg/m2), 103 postoperative bariatric surgery patients (POST, 78% women, BMI 30.38 ± 2.88 kg/m2), and a convenience sample of 96 non-clinical volunteers with pre-obesity or obesity grade 1 (CG, 52% women, BMI 29.22 ± 2.64 kg/m2). HRQOL was measured using the 12-item short form health survey (SF-12), and psychopathology was assessed with the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS).

Results

The PRE group exhibited the lowest physical HRQOL, and the PSY group the lowest mental HRQOL. The highest mental/physical HRQOL was reported by the POST group and the CG, without significant differences between these two groups. While the PSY group scored higher on HADS-anxiety scale than the PRE group, neither group differed with regards to symptoms of depression. The lowest levels of HADS-depression were found in the POST group and the CG.

Conclusions

The present findings suggest that bariatric surgery candidates may suffer from equally high levels of depression as psychotherapy inpatients, but they perceive better mental well-being. Routine mental health evaluation should incorporate assessments for both psychopathology and HRQOL.

Trial Registration

DRKS00009901

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Max Westphal, Institute for Biostatistics, Hannover Medical School, for his statistical support during the course of the study, and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Alexandra Osterhues, Martina de Zwaan & Astrid Müller

  2. Medical Psychology Unit, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

    Thomas von Lengerke

  3. Department of General, Vascular and Bariatric Surgery, KRH Klinikum Nordstadt, Hannover, Germany

    Julian W. Mall

Authors
  1. Alexandra Osterhues
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  2. Thomas von Lengerke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Astrid Müller.

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Funding

This work was supported by the “Else-Kröner-Fresenius Foundation” as part of the structured doctoral program “ClinStrucMed”.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical Approval

All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee of the Hannover Medical School and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Osterhues, A., von Lengerke, T., Mall, J.W. et al. Health-Related Quality of Life, Anxiety, and Depression in Bariatric Surgery Candidates Compared to Patients from a Psychosomatic Inpatient Hospital. OBES SURG 27, 2378–2387 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-2629-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-2629-2

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