Considerable Weight Loss for Severely Obese Post-Bariatric Sx

(HealthDay News) – For severely obese adults undergoing bariatric surgery, there is considerable weight loss after surgery, and self-reported weight loss seems to be a valid measure of weight loss following bariatric surgery, according to a study and research letter published online Nov. 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Anita P. Courcoulas, MD, MPH, from the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, and colleagues reported three-year changes in weight and select health parameters for severely obese patients (median body mass index, 45.9kg/m²) after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB; 1,738 participants), laparoscopic gastric banding (LAGB; 610 participants), and other bariatric surgical procedures (110 participants). The researchers found that the percentage of weight lost from baseline was 31.5% for RYGB participants and 15.9% for LAGB participants. For both procedures, most weight loss was evident one year after surgery.

Nicholas J. Christian, PhD, from the University of Pittsburg Graduate School of Public Health, and colleagues examined whether self-reported weights differed from weights obtained by study personnel using a standard scale among 988 adults who underwent RYGB, LAGB, or other bariatric procedures. The researchers found that women and men underreported their weight by an average of 1 kg or less, with no significant difference in underreporting between men and women. For both men and women, self-reported medical weights were significantly closer to measured weights than were self-reported personal weights.

“In conclusion, self-reported weights following bariatric surgery were close to measured weights,” Christian and colleagues write.

Several authors from the Courcoulas study and one author from the Christian study disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical, medical device, and nutrition industries.

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