Psychological gender differences in bariatric surgery candidates

Over 177,000 bariatric surgeries were performed in 2006. Most patients are required to receive presurgical psychological clearance, although there are no empirically validated psycho-surgical risk factors. In an effort to establish normative data on suspected risk factors, the present study was conducted to determine if males and females differ on psycho-surgical risk factors.

Subjects consisted of 361 consecutive bariatric surgery candidates undergoing a psychological evaluation in a private practice setting. They were administered the PsyBari, a test that detects and measures psycho-surgical risk factors, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-2).

The results indicate that males have significantly higher BMIs than females (p=0.035). Females have tried significantly more diets than males (p<0.000). Females are significantly more likely to report a history of depression than males (p<0.000). Females received significantly higher scores on the PsyBari Depression Index than males (p<0.000.). Females received significantly higher BDI-2 scores than males (p<0.001). Females are significantly more likely to report a history of anxiety than males (p=0.004). Females received significantly higher scores on the PsyBari Social Anxiety Index than males (p=0.038).

The results indicate that males and females differ significantly on suspected psycho-surgical risk factors. Assessments of bariatric surgery candidates should recognize that males and females have different baselines for psycho-surgical risk factors. Further research on bariatric surgery candidates should report results separated by gender.