Sleep Duration and Timing in the Medium- to Long-Term Post-Bariatric Surgery

Area of Science:

• Bariatric surgery outcomes
• Sleep science
• Obesity research

Background:

• Sleep duration is known to improve short-term after bariatric surgery.
• Long-term associations between sleep duration and body weight post-surgery remain under-researched.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe sleep duration in individuals medium- to long-term after bariatric surgery.
• To investigate the relationship between sleep duration, body mass index (BMI), and body composition.

Main Methods:

• Utilized sleep logs and ActivPAL3 accelerometers to assess sleep duration.
• Included 49 individuals with a mean BMI of 36.6 kg/m².
• Data collected 9.5 ± 3.3 years post-surgery (range 3-16 years).

Main Results:

• Participants averaged 7.9 ± 1.6 hours of sleep on weekdays and 8.5 ± 1.7 hours on weekends.
• A positive association was found between the delta weekend-weekday sleep timing midpoint and BMI (β = 0.03, P = 0.01).
• Individuals regained an average of 26.4% of lost weight medium- to long-term post-surgery.

Conclusions:

• The study sample achieved recommended sleep durations medium- to long-term after bariatric surgery.
• An earlier sleep timing midpoint on weekends may be associated with lower BMI.
• Further research is needed to explore the implications of sleep timing on weight management post-bariatric surgery.