Background
Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective treatment for morbid obesity. It aims to reduce dietary intake; it could lead to nutritional deficiencies as a consequence of decreased oral intake or decreased absorption of nutrients.
Aim
To assess the nutritional status of patients undergoing bariatric surgeries.
Design
A descriptive exploratory research design was utilized in the current study.
Sample
A convenient sample of 60 adult male and female patients who performed bariatric surgeries was enrolled in the current study within 1 year.
Tools
Two tools were utilized to collect data: Personal & Medical data Form and Nutritional Assessment Form.
Results
The age of the study sample ranged between 19 to more than 50 years old, with a mean age of 36.81±10.09 years. There were 86.7% females, 73.3% married, and 71.7% performed gastric sleeve. There was a statistical significant difference in BMI (χ
2=35.29, P=0.000). Also, there were statistically significant differences in macronutrient and micronutrient consumption of recommended dietary allowances (P=0.000) among the study sample before surgery and after 1 and 3 months of surgery also, most of them complained of gastrointestinal tract upset and change in nutritional status beside micronutrient and macronutrient disturbance.
Conclusion
There were changes in the nutritional status 1 and 3 months after bariatric surgery.
Recommendations
Further studies should be conducted to assess and compare long-term follow-up nutritional status among different types of bariatric surgeries.