Thiamine deficiency in US veterans with obesity

Thiamine deficiency is common after bariatric surgery, but patients with obesity may be deficient in thiamine even before surgery. The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence of thiamine deficiency in patients with obesity at a medical weight-management clinic and assess the relationship between recent weight loss and thiamine deficiency.

For this observational study, medical records were reviewed for patients (n = 146) at the nonsurgical obesity medicine and preoperative bariatric surgery clinic at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center between January 1, 2012, and January 31, 2019. Thiamine deficiency was defined as a value less than the test reference range. χ² tests were used to assess differences in thiamine deficiency by race, gender, and type 2 diabetes status. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between weight loss and thiamine deficiency.

Thiamine deficiency was found in 32.2% of patients. There were no differences in the prevalence of deficiency by gender, race, or type 2 diabetes status. Weight loss was associated with increased risk for deficiency, although this was not statistically significant (odds ratio = 2.04, 95% CI: 0.79-5.27).

Approximately one-third of patients evaluated had a test result indicating thiamine deficiency. All people with obesity may benefit from additional nutritional screening.