Psychiatric comorbidity and quality of life in obese patients. Results from a case-control study.
OBJECTIVE
The authors sought to evaluate psychiatric comorbidity, subjective quality of life, and impact of psychopathology on quality of life measures in a clinical sample of patients attending a center for the diagnosis and treatment of obesity compared to a matched sample of non-obese subjects.


METHODS
Two hundred ninety-three consecutive obese patients (48 males, 245 females, mean age 45.41 +/- 13.55 yrs; mean BMI 35.60 +/- 6.20) were compared with a control group made of 293 non obese subjects (48 males, 245 females, mean age 45.66 +/- 13.86 yrs; mean BMI 21.8 +/- 2.06); all subjects were interviewed by means of SCID I and SCID II and completed the WHO-QoL-Bref, a self-administered instrument for evaluation of subjective quality of life.


RESULTS
Obesity was associated with a significant lifetime major risk both for axis I (OR = 3.47, p = 0.000) and axis II disorders (OR = 2.27, p = 0.000); obesity was also associated with significantly lower measures of subjective quality of life on physical, social, and psychological domains; comorbidity with axis I/II disorders was associated with lower QoL measures on WHO-QoL-Bref, in particular among obese patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Obesity is significantly associated with a significant major risk of psychiatric comorbidity and poor quality of life; comorbid mental disorders play a significant role in worsening quality of life of obese patients; a multimodal approach to the treatment of obesity, including psychiatric evaluation and intervention, is needed to improve quality of life of patients.
Carpiniello
Bernardo
B
Department of Public Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Cagliari, Italy. bcarpini@iol.it
Pinna
Federica
F
Pillai
Gianluca
G
Nonnoi
Valentina
V
Pisano
Enrica
E
Corrias
Silvia
S
Orrù
Maria Germana
MG
Orrù
Walter
W
Velluzzi
Fernanda
F
Loviselli
Andrea
A
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011599:Psychopathology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*