Early Weight Loss in Post-Bariatric Surgery Patients Receiving Treatment for Loss-of-Control Eating

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Vol. 30; p. 9
• Main Authors: Smith, Caitlin, Dilip, Abhaya, Ivezaj, Valentina, Grilo, Carlos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Silver Spring Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2022
• Subjects: Behavior modification; Eating disorders; Gastrointestinal surgery; Psychopathology
• ISSN: 1930-7381

Background: Although bariatric surgery often results in significant weight losses, some patients experience eating/weight concerns after surgery and seek adjunctive behavioral interventions. Early weight loss in behavioral interventions is associated with greater weight loss at follow-up, yet predictors of early success are unknown. This study examined baseline patient characteristics as predictors of early weight loss among post-bariatric surgery patients in a treatment trial testing behavioral treatments for loss-of-control (LOC) eating. Methods: 105 patients (aged 45.69±11.59 years; 84.5% female; 43.1% non-White) with LOC eating (> once weekly) six-months post-bariatric surgery began behavioral interventions. Patients were categorized by early weight loss (yes/no) following one month of treatment. Early- and non-early weight loss groups were compared on: demographic variables; clinical interviews assessing LOC eating, eating disorder psychopathology, and psychiatric disorder comorbidity; self-report measures of depression, sleep, physical activity, food addiction, and weight bias; and surgery related variables (e.g., time since surgery, surgery type). Results: Approximately 67 patients (63.8%) lost weight (M=2.97, SD=2.64) at month 1. Men lost more weight than women by month 1 (x2 = 3.96, p = .04) and sex was included as a covariate in all analyses. ANCOVA analyses conducted on continuous predictors and logistic regressions performed on categorical baseline variables of early weight loss revealed no significant predictors. Conclusions: Baseline characteristics do not predict early weight loss among post-bariatric surgery patients receiving additional behavioral treatments for LOC eating after surgery. These findings suggest severity of eating disorder psychopathology and psychosocial problems are unrelated to initial weight loss changes and highlight the need to identify ways to enhance responses to treatments in this subgroup of patients with LOC eating following bariatric surgery.