The Obesity Adjustment Survey: Development of a scale to assess psychological adjustment to morbid obesity

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To develop a reliable and valid measure of distress, related to extreme obesity. DESIGN: Items related to distress over obesity were selected from the literature, clinical experience and from input provided by a gastroplasty patient support group. The items were assessed in a longitudinal study, with the body mass index (BMI) and psychological assessment occurring 2 ± 6 months prior to, and 12 months following, gastroplasty surgery. SUBJECTS: 81 females and eight males (mean age 35.9 y) who had been accepted for gastroplasty surgery. All but two of the patients had BMIs b 40 (Mean 48.11, s.d. 6.84). MEASUREMENTS: BMIs were calculated using weight and height. Psychological characteristics were assessed using the Mental Health Inventory (MHI), the Sickness Impact Pro®le (SIP), and the Eating Inventory (EI). Demographic information was collected with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Attempts to factor analyse the 95 item questionnaire were unsuccessful. Alternatively, a shorter, 20 item questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire shows good test-retest reliability (r 0.867), good internal consistency (coef®cient alpha 0.719) , good face and construct validity, and is sensitive to pre-post surgical change. CONCLUSIONS: The Obesity Adjustment Survey (OAS) may be useful as a brief measure of distress in obese individuals. This measure can be used to index the psychological impact of gastroplasty surgery on psychological functioning, and can be used in future research as a disease-speci®c measure to predict success of surgery.

Weight loss and quality of life after bariatric surgery: a study of 200 patients after vertical gastroplasty or adjustable gastric banding

“…Reduced sexual QoL is a frequent consequence of obesity, especially when BMI is very high (Kolotkin et al, 2006). QoL could be defined as the 'degree of happiness and satisfaction regarding the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of individual life' (Butler et al, 1999).…”

“…The various types of bariatric surgery involve different constraints (that is food restrictions and digestive side effects) and consequences for patients. The evaluation of these surgical treatments results should be based both on objective data, such as weight loss or comorbidity improvement, and on subjective data such as QoL (Butler et al, 1999;Ballantyne, 2003). Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of QoL after a slimming induced by bariatric surgery in a large patients population.…”

Content comparison of health status measures for obesity based on the international classification of functioning, disability and health

“…The obesity adjustment survey -short form (OAS-SF) was constructed to assess the psychological distress of individuals who are morbidly obese. 34 It is a self-reported 20-item questionnaire, rated on a five-point Likert scale.…”

Protocol for a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial to Compare the “Taste & See” Programme—A Church-Based Programme to Develop a Healthy Relationship with Food—With a Wait-List Control

“…Data will be collected via a secure online database (Bristol Online Survey), into which participants directly enter their data, with help if needed, from their local facilitators. Outcome measures include: self-reported height and weight; depression which will be measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (Kroenke and Spitzer 2002); anxiety will be measured using the Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaire (Spitzer et al 2006), Mental well-being will be measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS) (Tennant et al 2007); eating behavior using the three-factors eating questionnaire (TFEQ-R21) (Karlsson et al 2000) and intuitive eating scale (Tylka and Kroon van Diest 2013); health-related quality of life (QoL) using EQ-5D (Herdman et al 2011); weight-related quality of life using the Obesity Adjustment Survey-short form (OAS-SF) (Butler et al 1999) and the weight and body related shame and guilt scale (Conradt et al 2007). Body dissatisfaction will be measured with a visual analogue body dissatisfaction scale, which is sensitive to transient changes in body dissatisfaction and is strongly correlated with other established measures of state body dissatisfaction (Heinberg and Thompson 1995).…”