Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Obesity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, with significant physical and psychological repercussions. The aim of our study was to assess anxiety-depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life at the mid-term following bariatric surgery and to determinate their effect on mid-term weight loss.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive longitudinal study at the obesity research unit of the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology in Tunis on 30 obese patients who had undergone sleeve-gastrectomy with a medical follow-up of at least 5 years. Anxiety and depressive disorders were screened using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD), which includes 14 items. Seven questions related to anxiety and seven others to depression. The outcome of sleeve gastrectomy and changes in quality of life over the mid-term were assessed using the BAROS (Bariatric analysis and reporting outcome system) evaluation scale.

Results: The mean age of our patients was 43±9.5 years. In the mid-term post-sleeve gastrectomy period, the prevalence of anxiety was 87% (6 patients had mild anxiety, 16 patients had moderate anxiety and 4 patients had severe anxiety) and the prevalence of depression was 60% (6 patients had mild depression, 8 patients had moderate depression and 4 patients had severe depression). The association between depression and weight loss at 2 and 5 years after sleeve gastrectomy was statistically significant, the more severe the depression the less weight loss (r=-0.45, P=0.01), (r=0.48, P=0.007) respectively. No statistically significant association was found between anxiety and loss of excess weight in the mediumterm post sleeve gastrectomy. Calculation of the overall BAROS score showed that 20 patients had a score >3, so surgery resulted in a good or very good outcome in 66% of patients. Analysis of the relationship between the global score and the percentage of excess weight lost at 5 years showed an excellent correlation between these two data (P=0.01).

Conclusion: The presence of depressive disorders after sleeve gastrectomy significantly predicted attenuated post-surgical weight loss. It is important to consider and treat these disorders, as they are important factors in a patient’s quality of life.