Bariatric Surgery and Its Impact on Postoperative Dietary Habits: A Prospective Behavioural Study

To assess the impact of bariatric surgery on postoperative eating behaviour and dietary compliance.

A descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Bariatric Surgery, International Metabolic and Bariatric Centre, Afridi Medical Complex, Peshawar, Pakistan, from January to June 2024.

The study included patients who underwent bariatric procedures, such as sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass. Data were collected after the surgical procedure, and patients were categorised according to anthropometric measurements, including height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). The Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ) and Postoperative Dietary Compliance Survey (PDCS) were used. SPSS software was incorporated for data analysis, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to find a significant association.

A total of 168 participants were included in the study, with a mean overall eating behaviour score of 116.21 ± 9.5. A total of 163 (97.02%) participants showed symptoms of moderate eating disorder, while 3 (1.7%) of respondents had severe disturbance, and 2 (1.2%) of individuals rated their eating behaviours as mild. Emotional undereating (EU) had the highest mean score of 17.72 ± 2.75. The findings revealed no statistically significant association between eating behaviour and patients' demographics and anthropometrics, including age (years), gender, weight [kg], type of surgery, postoperative duration, and pre- or post-operative BMI (Kg/m2; p >0.05).

Bariatric surgery was associated with a moderate disturbance in eating behaviours, and the emotional aspect of eating comprised a significant role. There was no discernible relationship between eating habits and variables such as age, weight, or surgery type. This highlighted the importance of providing patients with continuing behavioural and psychological assistance following bariatric surgeries.

Bariatric surgery, Body mass index, Compliance, Dietary changes post-surgery, Food avoidance, Gastrectomy, Postoperative dietary habits.