Psychopathological profile before and after bariatric surgery

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Bariatric Surgery
• Psychopathology

Background:

• Presurgical assessments for bariatric surgery typically focus on severe mental disorders.
• Mild psychopathology and eating behaviors can also impact post-surgical outcomes.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for comprehensive patient evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and compare psychopathology and eating behavior patterns in bariatric surgery candidates versus a normative population.
• To assess changes in these patterns before and after bariatric surgery.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 32 bariatric surgery candidates were evaluated using the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), EDE-Q, and BES.
• Assessments were conducted pre-surgery and one year post-surgery.
• A total of 32 patients pre-surgery and 26 patients post-surgery were included in the analysis.

Main Results:

• Pre-surgery, patients exhibited a mild mixed adjustment disorder, primarily with somatic complaints.
• Post-surgery, significant improvements were observed in somatic complaints (p < 0.001) and depression (p = 0.04).
• Eating disorder scores, including compulsive intake (BES, p < 0.001) and overall eating disorder behaviors (EDE-Q/G, p < 0.001), significantly improved post-surgery compared to pre-surgery and the normative group.

Conclusions:

• Bariatric surgery candidates often present with mild psychopathology that tends to normalize post-surgery.
• Eating behaviors and related cognitive symptoms show significant improvement after bariatric surgery.
• Further research is warranted to explore the impact of mild psychopathology on long-term bariatric surgery outcomes.