Quality of Life, Depression, and Food Tolerance, After Primary Sleeve Gastrectomy Among Israeli Patients: A Cross-Sectional National Study

Background: Adequate data on quality-of-life (QoL) after sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is scarce. Our aim was to study QoL, depression, and food tolerance after primary SG. Methods: Validated, well-accepted questionnaires targeting QoL (36-Item Short Form Survey Instrument [SF-36], Moorehead-Ardelt Quality of Life II (MA II), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]), and food tolerance (food tolerance score [FTS]) were administered to two distinct cohorts: “Operated”: A random sample of patients who underwent primary SG, “Candidate”: Candidates for primary bariatric surgery. Results: The “operated” cohort included 160 patients. Mean time from surgery and mean age were 4.4±0.3 and 44.9±12.1 years, respectively. Sixty two percent were female. The “candidate” cohort included 517 patients with a mean age of 38.1±11.9 years, 75% of which were female. All participants completed the questionnaires (N=677). Physical function QoL scores in the “operated” and “candidate” cohorts were 76.6±14.9 and 58.2±20.1 (p<0.0001), respectively, for SF-36 and 0.08±0.3 and −0.01±0.3 (p<0.0001), respectively, for MA II. Mental health scores in the “operated” and the “candidate” cohorts were 74.7±15.2 and 64.1±19.4 (p<0.0001), respectively. The “operated” cohort scored better on the CES-D but worse on FTS (p<0.0001 for both). Conclusion: Patients undergoing SG surgery report better QoL scores 4-5 years following the procedure than candidates. However, bariatric surgery candidates report better FTSs.