Is There Association Between Weight-loss Surgery, Change in Relationships?

Medicine, Health Care Is There Association Between Weight-loss…

Published: March 28, 2018.
Released by JAMA Surgery

Bottom Line: Weight-loss surgery was associated with relationship changes for patients.

Why The Research Is Interesting: Weight-loss (bariatric) surgery is a life-changing treatment for patients with severe obesity, but little is known about its association with their interpersonal relationships.

Who and When: Participants in two Swedish studies: 1,958 patients who had bariatric surgery compared with 1,912 obese individuals who did not, and 29,234 patients who had gastric bypass surgery compared with 283,748 individuals in general population; data analysis done from June 2016 to December 2017

What (Study Measures): Changes in relationship status after bariatric surgery

How (Study Design): This was an observational study. Researchers were not intervening for purposes of the study and cannot control all the natural differences that could explain the study findings.

Authors: Per-Arne Svensson, Ph.D., University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden and coauthors

Study Limitations: The study only included people living in Sweden and whether the results can be generalized to other countries and cultures is unknown.

Related material: The commentary, “Relationship Status After Bariatric Surgery,” by Joseph R. Imbus, M.D., and Luke M. Funk, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, is also available on the For The Media website.


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