title: Health-related quality of life following vertical banded gastroplasty.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Morbid obesity is associated with increased risks of morbidity and mortality as well as poor quality of life (QoL). Therefore, the goal of bariatric surgery should not only be reducing weight and treatment of comorbid conditions, but also improving QoL. Moreover, enhanced QoL may motivate patients to adhere to adequate health behavior in order to maintain the surgically established weight loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated early postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQoL) over time. Preoperatively as well as 6, 12, and 24 months after vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), 107 patients were psychologically assessed using a semistructured interview and the RAND 36-item Health Survey (RAND-36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over time, we found significant changes in weight: 2 years after surgery, excess weight loss (EWL) was 58.4%. HRQoL showed significant improvements over time, especially in the physical domains. Two years after surgery, 74% of patients were satisfied with the results of the operation and 94.1% would opt for surgery again.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VBG not only leads to considerable weight loss, but also to significant improvements in HRQoL. However, some of the initially reported improvements lessened over time and not all patients appeared to profit in the same way.
authors: Department of Medical Psychology, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. gerbrand.v.hout@cze.nl
authors: Gerbrand C M
authors: GC
authors: van Hout
authors: Frederiek A M
authors: FA
authors: Fortuin
authors: Aline J M
authors: AJ
authors: Pelle
authors: Marieke E
authors: ME
authors: Blokland-Koomen
authors: Guus L
authors: GL
authors: van Heck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D015391:Gastroplasty; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000601:surgery*; D011788:Quality of Life