Zeitschrift für Adipositas- und Gewichtsverlusttherapie

Abstrakt

The Effect of Marital Status on Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery is Moderated by Depression

Rachael J. Pohle-Krauza, Michele L. McCarroll, Debbie Pasini, Adrian G. Dan and John G. Zografakis

Background: Presence of depression and /or a lack of appropriate social support may exert deleterious effects on postoperative weight loss in bariatric surgery patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interactive effects of surgical procedure and marital status on weight loss in these patients, and to assess the impact of depression on these effects. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of patients who underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass or banding surgery (LRYGB or LAGB) at a single institution from 2005-2007. Our sample included 62 patients who had values for all time points for percent excess weight loss (%EWL) preoperatively, and 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months postoperatively. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.1, where %EWL was tested in mixed models for effects of marital status, surgical procedure, time, and all interactions of the three. Correlation analyses were used to examine the relationship between baseline depression and %EWL within categories of marital status. Results: Interactions were found between surgery-type and time, and marital status and time. LRYGB patients had greater %EWL compared to LAGB at all postoperative time points, and %EWL for Married patients was less than that of Singles at 12 and 18 months. There was a marked, inverse relationship between depression and %EWL for the Single group, but not the others. Conclusions: Interactions between these variables suggests that the effects of marital status on %EWL may be modulated by depression. Further studies are needed in order to examine these relationships in samples including more even distributions of sex and marital status.