Psychological and Psychiatric Traits in Post-bariatric Patients Asking for Body-Contouring Surgery

Obese patients, mainly females, feel uncomfortable and unsatisfied with their physical appearance; they have a wrong perception of their image and consequently diminish their self-esteem, sometimes showing difficulties in functional areas such as work, relationship, social activity. Beside health concerns, improving their appearance and body image are often common motives for weight loss in obese individuals and after weight loss about 30% of bariatric surgery patients undergo plastic surgical correction of excessive skin. The authors investigated psychological and psychiatric traits in post-bariatric patients undergoing body-contouring surgery to underline the strong correlation between psychiatry and obesity and avoid unsatisfactory results in post-bariatric patients.

The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Beck Depression Inventory II, Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire, Body Uneasiness Test, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11, and Binge Eating Scale were performed in 36 post-bariatric patients looking for plastic surgery and 21 controls, similar for clinical features, not seeking shape remodelling.

Much different psychiatric pathology characterizes cases, including current body dysmorphic disorder and previous major depression and anxiety disorders, impulsivity, binging and body uneasiness are other common traits.

In post-obesity rehabilitation, a strong collaboration between the plastic surgeon and psychiatrist is recommended to reduce the number of non-compliant patients. Preoperative psychological assessment of the body-contouring patient should be a central part of the initial plastic surgery consultation, as it should be for all plastic surgery patients.

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