The Bariatric Quality of Life index: a measure of well-being in obesity surgery patients.
BACKGROUND
Quality of life (QoL) is considered to be the true measure for the effectiveness of a surgical procedure, but there are only a few validated instruments available for bariatric surgery. Therefore, a new diseasespecific 30-item instrument was created, which was called Bariatric Quality of Life (BQL) questionnaire.


METHODS
To validate the BQL, we studied 133 patients after 4 different types of bariatric surgery. Initially, mean body mass index (BMI) was 47.2 +/-7.6 kg/m2 and mean age was 38.8 +/-11.0 years. At baseline, and 1, 6, and 12 months after surgery, patients filled in the BQL, the SF-12 (Short Form of SF-36 Health Survey), the GIQLI (Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index), and the BAROS (Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System).


RESULTS
Internal consistency of the BQL was found to be good, with Cronbach's alpha ranging between 0.71 and 0.86. Factor analyses suggested that the BQL included a highly consistent set of QoL items and a second part on co-morbidities and gastrointestinal symptoms. At the 12 months follow-up, the BQL was closely correlated to SF 12 (Pearson's r = 0.86), GIQLI (0.68), BAROS (0.71), and excess weight loss (0.55). Standardized effect sizes over time were larger for the BQL (1.39 and 1.58) than for the other instruments.


CONCLUSIONS
The BQL questionnaire is a validated instrument ready for clinical use.
Weiner
Sylvia
S
Obesity Academy Frankfurt e. V., Frankfurt, Germany. sylvia.weiner@gmx.de
Sauerland
Stefan
S
Fein
Martin
M
Blanco
Rafael
R
Pomhoff
Ingmar
I
Weiner
Rudolf A
RA
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D049088:Bariatrics / Q000379:methods*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D015391:Gastroplasty / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011336:Probability; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss