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Qualitative research has an enormous amount to contribute to the fields of health, medicine and public health but readers and reviewers from these fields have little understanding of how to judge its quality. Work to date accurately reflects the complexity of the theoretical debate required but may not meet the needs of practitioners attempting to apply qualitative work in reviews of evidence. This article describes a simple, practitioner-focused framework for assessing the rigour of qualitative research that attempts to be inclusive of a range of epistemological and ontological standpoints. An extensive review of the literature, contributions from expert groups and practitioners themselves lead to the generation of two core principles of quality: transparency and systematicity, elaborated to summarize the range of techniques commonly used, mirroring the flow of the research process. The complexities discovered are only summarized here. Finally, outstanding issues such as 'how much transparency is enough?', are flagged up. Keywords■ evidence base ■ qualitative research ■ quality

Purpose of ReviewLittle is known about the psychological effects on life after bariatric surgery despite the high prevalence of psychological disorders in candidates seeking this procedure. Our review discusses the literature around the psychological impact of bariatric surgery, exploring whether the procedure addresses underlying psychological conditions that can lead to morbid obesity and the effect on eating behaviour postoperatively.Recent FindingsFindings show that despite undisputed significant weight loss and improvements in comorbidities, current literature suggests some persisting disorder in psychological outcomes like depression and body image for patients at longer term follow-up, compared to control groups. Lack of postoperative psychological monitoring and theoretical mapping limits our understanding of reasons behind these findings.SummaryReframing bariatric approaches to morbid obesity to incorporate psychological experience postoperatively would facilitate understanding of psychological aspects of bariatric surgery and how this surgical treatment maps onto the disease trajectory of obesity.

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Highlights  Positive body image interventions improve aspects of health and well-being.  Fifteen studies, evaluating 13 interventions, were eligible for inclusion.  The two interventions for men, rated as weak, did not improve positive body image.  Strong and moderate quality interventions improved positive body image in women.  Future interventions should target multiple components of positive body image.