The relationship between eating psychopathology and obstructive sleep apnea in bariatric surgery candidates: A...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), eating psychopathology, and major depressive disorder (MDD) are highly prevalent in patients with severe obesity. Our study aimed to identify differences in binge-eating disorder (BED) prevalence in bariatric surgery candidates with and without OSA.

In this retrospective study, demographic data, psychiatric diagnoses, OSA diagnosis, binge eating, depressive and quality of life (QOL) symptoms were collected from 1,099 bariatric surgery candidates from a Canadian setting. Analysis of variance was used to identify differences in psychopathology and QOL between groups with OSA and BED, BED alone, OSA alone or neither BED or OSA.

Study participants' mean body mass index was 49.3 kg/m² and 52.6% had a diagnosis of OSA. Patients with OSA were significantly more likely to have a diagnosis of past BED (χ²  = 6.848, p = .009) and current MDD (χ²  = 5.165, p = .023). Binge-eating (p < .001) and depressive symptoms (p < .001) were significantly higher in patients with co-morbid BED and OSA compared to patients with OSA alone or patients with no diagnosis of BED or OSA. Patients with co-morbid BED and OSA only had significantly lower physical (p < .001) and mental QOL (p = .007) compared to patients with no diagnosis of BED or OSA.

Our findings suggest that patients with a history of BED should be reassessed for OSA. Research is needed to examine whether BED may predispose individuals to developing obesity and OSA.