The Relationship Between Percentage Weight Loss and World Health Organization-Five Wellbeing Index (WHO-5) in Patients Having Bariatric Surgery.

PURPOSE: The association between bariatric surgery outcome and depression remains controversial. Many patients with depression are not offered bariatric surgery due to concerns that they may have suboptimal outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between baseline World Health Organization-Five Wellbeing Index (WHO-5) and percentage total weight loss (%TWL) in patients after bariatric surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients were routinely reviewed by the psychologist and screened with WHO-5. The consultation occurred 3.5 ± 1.6 months before bariatric surgery. Body weight was recorded before and 1 year after surgery. A total of 45 out of 71 (63.3%) patients with complete WHO-5 data were included in the study. Data analysis was carried out with IBM SPSS Statistics (version 27) to determine the correlation between baseline WHO-5 and %TWL in patients having bariatric surgery. RESULTS: Overall, 11 males and 34 females were involved with mean age of 47.5 ± 11.5 and BMI of 46.2 ± 5.5 kg/m2. The %TWL between pre- and 1-year post-surgery was 30.0 ± 8.3% and the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index mean score was 56.5 ± 16.8. We found no correlation between %TWL and the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index (r = 0.032, p = 0.83). CONCLUSION: There was no correlation between the baseline WHO-5 Wellbeing Index and %TWL 1-year post-bariatric surgery. Patients with low mood or depression need to be assessed and offered appropriate treatment but should not be excluded from bariatric surgery only based on their mood.

Obesity and responsibility: Is it time to rethink agency?

Despite obesity declared a disease, there still exists considerable weight stigma in both popular culture and health care, which negatively impacts policy making regarding prevention and treatment. While viewed as a choice or a failure of willpower by many, evidence exists to challenge the argument that both weight gain and failure to achieve weight loss maintenance are the individuals' fault due to personal failure or lack of responsibility. In this article, we draw upon literature from obesity treatment, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and weight stigma to challenge the commonly held beliefs that individuals are free to choose how much they can weigh, and achievement of long-term weight loss maintenance is completely subject to conscious choice. In reality, the regulation of hunger, satiety, energy balance, and body weight takes place in subcortical regions of the brain. Thus, hunger and satiety signals are generated in regions of the brain, which are not associated with conscious experience. This points towards biological determinism of weight and challenges ideas of willpower and resultant moralization regarding body weight regulation. In this article, we will thus argue that in the context of dysregulation of hunger and satiety contributing to the obesity epidemic, a wider discourse related to personal responsibility and the stigma of obesity is needed to enhance understanding, prevention, and treatment of this complex disease. Obesity is a chronic disease requiring personalized treatment. Lifestyle interventions alone may not be enough to achieve medically significant and sustained weight loss for many individuals with obesity. By understanding that obesity is not due to a lack of motivation or willpower, the availability and utilization of additional treatments or combination of treatments such as lifestyle, pharmacotherapy, and surgery are likely to improve the quality of life for many suffering with this disease.

Exploring patient beliefs and perceptions regarding obesity as a disease, obesity causation and treatment.

INTRODUCTION: In patients with obesity (PwO) and heath care providers (HcPs), there appears to exist a discrepancy between recognition of obesity as a disease and the underlying biology of the disease. This is evident when considering PwO and HcPs appear to agree obesity is a disease but position lifestyle related factors as the main barriers to treatment with "eat less and move more" considered the best treatment approach. This does not align with current evidence regarding obesity treatments and the underlying pathophysiology. An understanding of PwO beliefs and perceptions may facilitate improved communication strategies with regard to the underlying pathophysiology of obesity as a disease. This has the potential to lead to improvements in both prevention and treatment strategies. Therefore, we evaluated PwO beliefs and perceptions of obesity as a disease, obesity causation and obesity treatment recorded during clinical evaluation. METHODS: As part of usual clinical practice we record 9 items to investigate beliefs and perceptions of obesity in PwO. We used a clinical audit to determine how frequently this information was formally recorded and to explore the association between beliefs and perceptions. RESULTS: The information was formally recorded in the patients' chart in 52 out of 108 patients (49%) who were part of an intensive lifestyle and medication program between 2018 and 2020. We found PwO tend to agree that obesity is a disease and that weight loss maintenance is dependent on willpower. A strong tendency towards agreement was present for the statement exercise is essential for weight loss. For the statement exercise is as effective as diet alone for weight loss, a tendency towards disagreement was present. Seventy-nine percent of PwO claimed to know the recommended guidelines for exercise with average response aligning with the America College of Sports Medicine recommendations. In exploring the relationship between responses, a number of significant associations were present which may facilitate future approaches to changing the narrative around obesity as a disease and isolating specific aspects of the message that need to be focused upon for the PwO. CONCLUSION: PwO appear to have conflicting beliefs regarding obesity as a disease and the underlying biology. This has the potential to hinder attempts to treat the disease via lifestyle intervention and may also reduce likelihood to consider alternative treatment options. These beliefs and perceptions need to be explored further, along with those of HcPs, policy makers and the general public. Collectively this may facilitate changing the narrative around obesity as a disease and positively impact both the prevention and treatment of this disease.