Objective: to assess alcohol intake in the bariatric surgery pre and postoperative periods.
Methods: Patients were interviewed at Surgery Clinic of the Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - HC/UFPE (Brazil) from July 2011 to March 2012. We analyzed socioeconomic, anthropometric and clinical variables. We used the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT C).
Results: One hundred nineteen patients were enrolled (mean age: 41.23+11.30 years), with a predominance of the female gender (83.2%), non-Caucasian race (55%), married individuals or in a stable union (65.5%), with a high school education (40.3%)and active in the job market (37%). Weight and body mass index (BMI) were 128.77+25.28 Kg and 49.09+9.26 Kg/m2,respectively in the preoperative period (class II obesity) and 87.19+19.16 Kg and 33.04+6.21 Kg/m2, respectively in the postoperative period (class I obesity) (p<0.001). Hypertension was the most frequent disease in the pre (66.6%) and postoperative (36.5%) periods. The prevalence of alcohol use was 26.6% in the preoperative period, of which 2.2% of high risk, and 35.1% in the postoperative period, of which 1.4% of probable dependence; this difference did not achieve statistical significance (p=0.337).
Conclusion: The prevalence of abusive alcohol intake and/or probable dependence was low in both the pre and postoperative periods, with little evidence of risky consumption among the patients submitted to bariatric surgery.