Long-term health-related quality of life in bariatric surgery patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveBariatric surgery results in significant weight loss in the majority of patients. Improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an equally important outcome; however, there are few studies reporting long-term (5 years) HRQoL outcomes. This study assesses the quality of evidence and effectiveness of surgery on HRQoL5 years. MethodsPubMed, Cochrane Review, EmBase, CINANL, PsycInfo, obesity conference abstracts, and reference lists were searched. Keywords were bariatric surgery, obesity, and quality of life. Studies were included if (1) there was 5 years follow-up, (2) patients had class II or III obesity, (3) individuals completed a validated HRQoL survey, and (4) there was a nonsurgical comparison group with obesity. Two reviewers independently assessed each study. ResultsFrom 1376 articles, 9 studies were included in the systematic review (SR) and 6 in the meta-analysis (MA). Inconsistent results for long-term improvements in physical and mental health emerged from the SR. In contrast, the MA found significant improvements in these domains 5 years after surgery. ConclusionsStudy findings provide evidence for a substantial and significant improvement in physical and mental health favoring the surgical group compared with controls spanning 5 to 25 years after surgery.