Perception of body image by patients undergoing bariatric surgery

to investigate changes in body image perception in patients undergoing bariatric surgery, evaluating the accuracy/inaccuracy in body size estimation and satisfaction/dissatisfaction with own body after surgery.

we performed a survey at the General Surgery outpatient clinic of the Clinics Hospital of the Federal University of Pernambuco. Thirty-six patients aged 18 years and older undergoing bariatric surgery participated. We carried out cross-sectional and quantitative studies using the Silhouetted Figures Scale.

in the descriptive analysis of the distortion and dissatisfaction score of the patients with the body image, the mean distortion was positive (6.43kg/m²), indicating that most people see themselves greater than they really are. On the other hand, in the dissatisfaction, we found a negative mean (-6.91kg/m²), indicating that the majority of the patients evaluated had a "BMI" lower than the current one (that is, a smaller silhouette). Regarding satisfaction with silhouette size, only 11.8% of women liked the post-surgical result, while among men there was 50% satisfaction.

Although bariatric surgery significantly reduced BMI, the patients presented, for the most part, dissatisfaction with body weight, perceiving it greater than it actually was, thus characterizing a perceptual inaccuracy.