Evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life in Obese Women One Year after Bariatric Surgery

Obesity is steadily growing around the world and is one of the most important threats to human health in the 21st century. It not only increases the incidence of obesity-related disorders, but also impairs the health-related quality of life (QOL). This study aimed to evaluate the health-related QOL in severely obese women after bariatric surgery.

A total of 476 patients, aged ≥18 years, attending Tehran Obesity Treatment Center, were enrolled in this study. Anthropometric and biochemical information of the participants was obtained before and one year after surgery. Health-related QOL was assessed using the Iranian version of the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).

The mean age of the patients undergoing bariatric surgery was 38.7±10.9 years. The body mass index (BMI) before bariatric surgery was 45.1±6.0 kg/m2, which decreased to 30.2±4.8 kg/m2 after one year of follow-up (P<0.001). The mean scores of anthropometric and metabolic indices improved one year after bariatric surgery. The mean score of the physical dimension of QOL improved from 227.6±54.3 to 316.6±63.2, and the mean score of the mental dimension also increased from 236.7±70.9 to 288.6±62.9 (P<0.001). The overall mean scores of QOL in the physical and psychological dimensions were not significantly different after one year of follow-up in the two groups of sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass.

QOL greatly improved at one year after bariatric surgery. The improvements were comparable after sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass.