Bariatric surgery alleviates depression in obese patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

With the rapid increase in the incidence of depression, there have been studies investigating whether bariatric surgery can alleviate this condition. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of bariatric surgery on depression in obese patients.

We searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases for studies on bariatric surgery and depression. Then, the clinical significance of bariatric surgery on depression was evaluated based on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) or Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Subgroup analysis was carried out in terms of surgery types, assessment tool, follow-up time and nationalism. Dichotomous data were analyzed using odds ratio (OR), and continuous data were evaluated using the weighted mean difference (WMD) or standardized mean difference (SMD).

Overall, 33 studies with a combined total of 12,556 participants met the inclusion criteria. Statistical results were significantly different whether continuous or dichotomous, and depression was improved in obese patients after surgery (SMD = -0.87, p < 0.001; and OR = 0.29, p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, subgroup analysis showed that bariatric surgery improved depression in obese patients regardless of surgery types, assessment tool, follow-up and country.

Bariatric surgery alleviates depression in obese patients. However, further studies are needed to elucidate on the complex effect of between bariatric surgery on depression.