Generalized Anxiety as a Risk Factor for Dysfunctional Eating Behavior after Obesity Surgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: The present study investigates the impact of obesity surgery on mental health (i.e., eating behavior and distress) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Two hundred fifty-four participants were recruited via social media. One hundred fourteen (44.53%) of them were surgery candidates (waiting for obesity surgery), while 142 (55.46%) had already undergone surgery. Participants who underwent surgery were compared to participants that did not yet undergo surgery in terms of mental burden (depression and anxiety), as well as safety and eating behavior. Further moderation analyses attempted to identify risk factors for increased COVID-19-related dysfunctional eating behavior after surgery. Results: Participants who underwent surgery showed generally lower levels of depression and general anxiety on a trend level. Moderation analyses suggested that people with high levels of generalized anxiety actually show more dysfunctional COVID-19-specific eating behavior after obesity surgery. Conclusion: On a trend level, obesity surgery appears to attenuate symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression. Yet, surgery patients with high levels of generalized anxiety exhibit even higher levels of dysfunctional eating during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is therefore particularly important to support people at risk.

The impact of psychological distress on weight regain in post-bariatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A latent profile analysis

“…Noteworthy, this study is the first to highlight a significant association between high psychological distress during the COVID-19 lockdown and weight regain in post-bariatric patients reaching the end of the “honeymoon period” during the mandatory stay-at-home orders. Previous studies on post-bariatric patients reaching heterogeneous follow-up assessments during the COVID-19 lockdown revealed an increase in psychological distress and dysfunctional eating behaviors in post-bariatric patients during the COVID-19 restrictions [ 31 , 33 , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] ] but did not underline a relationship between psychological distress during the stay-at-home orders and weight regain. A longitudinal study comparing patients that reached the post-bariatric 3-year follow-up assessment before the pandemic began ( n = 66) compared to patients that reached the same follow-up time during the COVID-19 lockdown ( n = 35), highlighted that the latter experienced higher dysfunctional eating patterns and weight regain [ 32 ].…”

Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on waitlisted pre-bariatric surgery patients in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

“…Specifically, the prevalence of depression (defined by a PHQ-9 score of 10 or more) in the present study was 37%. Furthermore, this reported prevalence could result from (1) the impact of obesity as a medical comorbidity and its association with poor mental health [ 26 , 27 ], (2) higher susceptibility to developing poor weight management skills during the pandemic [ 28 ], and (3) frustration due to postponement of bariatric surgery [ 29 , 30 ]. As previously reported, bariatric surgery could reduce the prevalence of depression, consequently improving the psychological status among patients [ [31] , [32] , [33] ].…”