title: Quality of life long-term after body contouring surgery following bariatric surgery: sustained improvement after 7 years.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bariatric surgery for morbid obesity results in massive weight loss and improvement of health and quality of life. A downside of the major weight loss is the excess of overstretched skin, which may influence the patient's quality of life by causing functional and aesthetic problems. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the patient's quality of life long-term after body contouring following bariatric surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quality of life was measured with the Obesity Psychosocial State Questionnaire in 33 post-bariatric surgery patients 7.2 years (range, 3.2 to 13.3 years) after body contouring surgery. Data were compared with previous assessments 4.1 years (range, 0.7 to 9.2 years) after body contouring surgery of the quality of life at that time and before body contouring surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with appraisals of quality of life before body contouring surgery, a significant, mostly moderate to large, sustained improvement of quality of life was observed in post-bariatric surgery patients 7.2 years after body contouring surgery in six of the seven psychosocial domains. A small deterioration occurred between 4.1- and 7.2-year follow-up on two of the seven domains except for the domain efficacy toward eating, which showed a significant improvement. At 7-year follow-up, 18 patients (55 percent) were satisfied with the result of body contouring surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates a sustained quality-of-life improvement in post-bariatric surgery patients after body contouring surgery. This suggests the importance of including reconstructive surgery as a component in the multidisciplinary approach in the surgical treatment of morbid obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therapeutic, IV.
authors: Utrecht and Nieuwegein, The Netherlands From the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University Medical Center Utrecht; the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University; and the Departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Surgery, St. Antonius Hospital.
authors: Eva S J
authors: ESJ
authors: van der Beek
authors: Rinie
authors: R
authors: Geenen
authors: Francine A G
authors: FAG
authors: de Heer
authors: Aebele B Mink
authors: ABM
authors: van der Molen
authors: Bert
authors: B
authors: van Ramshorst
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D050110:Bariatric Surgery / Q000523:psychology; D003357:Cosmetic Techniques; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology