ABSTRACT
Introduction: The lockdown caused by COVID-19 has an extreme impact on most people's lives. Notwithstanding, some individuals are more predisposed to experience deterioration in their psychological status and/or inaccessibility to adequate treatment and, consequently, they should be devoted with greater attention. Namely, for example, post-bariatric surgery patients who need continuous monitoring about eating behavior and psychological distress. Particularly in medium/long term post-surgery (≥ 36 months), a period of increased susceptibility to weight regain. The present study goals are to characterize the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 lockdown for post-bariatric patients and identify its associations with disordered eating behavior and psychological distress. Methods: Twenty-four post-bariatric surgery (M=42.88 months post-surgery, DP=4.73) women (M=50.92 years, DP=12.81) responded to an online questionnaire and a telephone-interview assessing the perceived impact of the lockdown, psychosocial, psychological, and eating behavior aspects during the first lockdown period. Results: Fourteen (58.3%) of the participants inquired reported perceived weight gain during the lockdown, thirteen (54.1%) reported limited access to social support, and twelve (50%) reported limited access to health care. Positive associations were found between the global psychosocial impact experienced during lockdown and difficulties in dealing with emotionally activating situations (rs=.45, p=.027) and stress symptoms (rs=.44, p=.030). Negative associations were found between co-habiting with more persons during lockdown and difficulties in dealing with emotionally activating situations (rs=-.49, p=.015), fear of getting fat (rs=-.48, p=.019), fear of losing control over eating (rs=-.56, p=.005), and disordered eating psychopathology (rs=-.47, p=.022). Conclusion: As clinical implications, the present findings highlighted the need to monitor post-bariatric surgery patients, facilitate health care access, and promote social support during lockdown periods.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The lockdown imposed by many countries to curb the COVID-19 epidemic had an unprecedented impact on the general population's lives. Recent studies suggest that eating habits are one of the areas particularly affected by stay-at-home orders. Individuals that received bariatric surgery for weight loss may represent a particularly susceptible population to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 lockdown for its potential impact on eating, psychological and, weight loss outcomes. This study seeks to investigate the incremental impact of COVID-19 lockdown on bariatric surgery outcomes. Methods: The present investigation uses data from an ongoing longitudinal study of bariatric patients assessed before surgery (T0), 1.5 (T1), and 3 years after surgery (T2). Two independent groups were compared: the COVID-19-Group (n=35) - T0 and T1 assessment were conducted before the pandemic started, but T2 assessment was conducted at the end of the mandatory COVID-19 lockdown;and the NonCOVID-19-Group (n=66) - who completed the pre-surgery, 1.5-, and 3-year assessment before the epidemic began. Assessment included self-report measures for disordered eating, negative urgency, depression, anxiety, stress, and weight outcomes. General Linear Models for repeated measures were used. Results: General Linear Models for repeated measures showed that the COVID-19-Group presented significantly higher weight concern (F=8.403, p=.005, η2p=.094), grazing behavior (F=7.166, p=.009, η2p=.076), and negative urgency (F=4.522, p=.036, η2p=.05) than the NonCOVID-19-Group. The COVID-19-Group also showed less weight loss (F=4.029, p=.05, η2p=.04) and greater weight regain at T2, with more COVID-19-Group participants experiencing excessive weight regain (20% vs 4.5%).Conclusions: These results show evidence for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on eating-related psychopathology and weight outcomes in post-bariatric surgery patients, making specialized and systematic care an urgent matter for this population.