Quality of life after gastric bypass for morbid obesity.
One year after gastric restriction surgery, 70 per cent of 118 women completed a questionnaire about lifestyle and eating behaviour changes. Mean weight loss was 35.4 kg. Patients reported a moderate reduction in appetite, and most avoided specific foods which they previously enjoyed, usually because of epigastric discomfort and/or nausea and vomiting. Patients had initiated or resumed a mean of 1.8 activities, most of which involved physical exercise. Sexual interest, enjoyment and frequency were all increased. Raised sexual satisfaction correlated strongly with overall outcome satisfaction. Seventy-two per cent of respondents rated themselves as very pleased, and 18 per cent as fairly pleased, with the overall results of the operation, and responses to the open-ended questions were often strikingly enthusiastic. However, most patients emphasized the difficulty of adjusting to radically new eating habits in the first 2-3 months after surgery, during which they experienced their greatest need for social support and encouragement.
Dibden Research Unit, Glenside Hospital, Eastwood, SA, Australia.
R J
RJ
Hafner
J M
JM
Watts
J
J
Rogers
D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D015431:Weight Loss