No abstract

The findings in this study suggest that at long-term follow-up the majority of individuals who have undergone gastric bypass feel that the procedure benefited them, although some complications including difficulties with "plugging" and vomiting were present at long-term follow-up.

HRQoL was significantly better in postoperative gastric bypass patients in comparison to a sample of preoperative patients. However, HRQoL, specifically the physical domain of the SF-36, was more impaired in long-term follow-up patients compared with US norm values. The reoccurrence of BED after surgery negatively influenced the mental domain of the SF-36.

Objective: To compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures in obese presurgery patients with and without binge-eating disorder (BED) and to investigate the relationship between a generic [short form-36 (SF-36)] and a disease-specific HRQOL measure [Impact of Weight on Quality of Life Questionnaire (IWQOL)] and measures of eating-related and general psychopathology. Research Methods and Procedures: One hundred ten patients ages 19 to 62 years with a mean body mass index of 48.4 Ϯ 8.3 kg/m 2 who were evaluated for gastric bypass surgery were asked to fill out questionnaires assessing eating-related and general psychopathology (depression, selfesteem), as well as the two HRQOL questionnaires. BED was assessed by self-report. Results: Nineteen (17.3%) patients met criteria for BED. Significant differences between patients with and without BED were found for four of the eight subscales of the SF-36 -with effect sizes ranging from 0.44 to 0.75-and for the total score and three of the five subscales of the IWQOL-Lite-with effect sizes from 0.57 to 0.74. The mental composite score of the SF-36 as well as the IWQOL total score correlated significantly with the measures of psychopathology.Discussion: This is the first study comparing the results of HRQOL measures in morbidly obese presurgery patients with and without BED. The results indicate that BED has a profound negative impact on HRQOL that exceeds the influence of obesity. Both HRQOL measures were able to reliably discriminate between patients with and without BED. Depression and self-esteem influenced HRQOL in a similar way as binge eating.