Background: Some bariatric patients are referred for surgery with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes while others are referred without co-morbid diabetes, but psychological differences between patients with and without type 2 diabetes undergoing bariatric surgery have not yet been investigated. The objective of this study was to present the baseline results of the longitudinal GASMITO-PSYC study, and to evaluate the psychological differences between bariatric patients with and without type 2 diabetes.
Methods: A total of 129 Roux-en- Y gastric bypass patients were recruited from the bariatric clinic at a hospital in the suburban Copenhagen area. Participants answered questionnaires concerning personality, mental symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), body image, lifestyle, and physical health including diabetes status on average 11 weeks before surgery. Questionnaires were either sent to the participant's home address or administered at the University of Copenhagen.
Results: Patients with type 2 diabetes scored higher on 'physical function' (P = .001), 'physical role' (P = .014), 'physical pain' (P = .021), and 'vitality' (P = .007) than nondiabetic patients after controlling for sex and age. The total study sample differed significantly from Danish test norms reporting higher neuroticism (P = .000), more mental symptoms (P = .000), lower HRQOL (P = .000), and less positive weight-related body image (P = .000).
Conclusion: Patients with type 2 diabetes had better physical HRQOL than nondiabetic patients. This study highlights the importance of investigating whether these differences affect surgical outcomes.
Keywords: Bariatric surgery; Mental health; Obesity; Psychological profile; Type 2 diabetes.
Copyright © 2015 American Society for Bariatric Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.