title: The Association Between Preoperative Symptoms of Obesity in Knee and Hip Joints and the Change in Quality of Life After Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Weight loss after bariatric surgery is shown to reduce knee and hip pain in the majority of the severely obese. Studies indicate that with a reduction in musculoskeletal symptoms, quality of life (QoL) will improve. The group of severely obese with knee and hip symptoms might therefore have potential for a large improvement in QoL after a bariatric surgery. This study aimed therefore to assess the association between the degree of knee and hip symptoms before a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) and the improvement of QoL, 1 year after the surgery, in severely obese.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a historical cohort study based on data collected consecutively at the private hospital Mølholm, Denmark. Before LRYGB surgery, 4548 severely obese completed a questionnaire on knee and hip symptoms of obesity and QoL. One year after surgery, 2862 (62.9 %) of the participants answered the same questionnaire again.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants with moderate or severe knee or hip symptoms, before the surgery, experienced a statistically significantly larger improvement of their QoL, compared to participants without symptoms before the surgery. Furthermore, an association between the reduction of knee and hip symptoms and the improvement in QoL was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Severely obese with moderate or severe preoperative knee and hip symptoms experienced a larger improvement of their QoL after a LRYGB compared to participants without symptoms before the operation.
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. ida_birn@hotmail.com.|Department of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade 44, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark. ida_birn@hotmail.com.
authors: Ida
authors: I
authors: Birn
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.|Centre of Research in Rehabilitation (CORIR), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital and Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors: Inger
authors: I
authors: Mechlenburg
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors: Anette
authors: A
authors: Liljensøe
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors: Kjeld
authors: K
authors: Soballe
authors: Department of Bariatric Surgery, Mølholm Private Hospital, Vejle, Denmark.
authors: Jens Fromholt
authors: JF
authors: Larsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass; Musculoskeletal symptoms; Obesity; Quality of life