Psychosocial Predictors of Response to Telephone-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Bariatric Surgery Patients

Bariatric surgery is an empirically supported treatment for severe obesity; however, it does not directly target underlying behavioural and psychological factors that potentially contribute to obesity. Mounting evidence supports the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for improving eating psychopathology and psychological distress among bariatric patients, and telephone-based CBT (Tele-CBT) is a novel delivery method that increases treatment accessibility.

This study aimed to identify demographic and clinical predictors of response to Tele-CBT among 79 patients who received Tele-CBT in 3 previous studies. Listwise deletion was applied, after which 58 patients were included in a multivariate linear regression adjusted for age, sex and education status, to evaluate patient rurality index (urban or nonurban), and baseline binge eating, emotional eating and depression symptoms, as predictors of tele-CBT response.

The predictors explained 31% of the observed variance [R²=0.312, F(4,57)=3.238, p<0.01]. Patient rurality index (beta=0.341, p<0.01) was the only statistically significant predictor of Tele-CBT response.

Given the limited psychosocial resources available in many bariatric surgery programs, the findings suggest that Tele-CBT may be particularly beneficial for patients residing in nonurban communities with limited access to other health-care services.