Functioning of obese individuals in pre- and postoperative periods of bariatric surgery

Obesity is a pathologic condition that causes functional incapacity, with reduction of quality of life and life expectancy and an increase in mortality. Bariatric surgery is indicated to alleviate associated comorbidities and increase physical capacity. The objective of this work was to evaluate the functional capacity of patients with morbid obesity before and after (3 months) bariatric surgery.

This was a cross-sectional study involving 67 patients, where 61 were women and six men, with a mean age of 38 ± 10 years and mean BMI of 50.45 ± 8.5 kg/m2. All patients were assessed before surgery and 3 months afterwards. The following assessments were performed: 6-min walk test (6MWT), functional independence measure (FIM), and test for risk of falling and transfer capacity, called the timed up-and-go test.

The study demonstrated a reduction in parameters evaluated in 6MWT with a statistically significant difference at two times (rest and final) when evaluated before and after bariatric surgery (p < 0.001). In relation to the FIM and timed up-and-go test, the patients showed a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.001) for both when comparing the tasks evaluated at the pre- and postoperative moments.

Obesity has an impact on the functioning and quality of life of patients. We observed an improvement in all instruments used for assessment before and after bariatric surgery, where a linear component was demonstrated in relation to diminution of body mass index and functioning.