Binge Eating After Bariatric Surgery in Patients Assisted by the Reference Service in a Brazilian Hospital and the Correlation with Weight Loss

Purpose Identify, 18 months after bariatric surgery, the binge eating variation and its relation with weight regain or loss. Materials and Methods Cross-sectional, retrospective study with 108 patients, assisted by an obesity walk-in clinic of a specialized hospital in Sao Paulo (Brazil), who had undergone bariatric surgery a minimum of 18 months previously. The anthropometric and clinic data were collected from medical records, and binge eating symptoms were evaluated with the application of the Binge Eating Scale (BES). Scale outcomes were related to weight regain and loss at the application moment. Results The average age (standard error) of the sample was 47 years (+/- 0.91) and 93% were female. Patients had lost 52.2% of their body weight and regained 4.7% of their weight 18 months after the surgery. The elapsed surgical time (> 50 months) was associated with a higher gross weight (p<0.0001). Conclusions Bariatric surgery has been shown to be effective for improving diabetes mellitus as well as for controlling obesity. The variation in binge eating intensity 18 months after bariatric surgery is a factor that interferes in the amount of weight regained. The presence of binge eating symptoms negatively affects the % total weight loss (%TWL).

Automated summary

This study aimed to identify the variation in binge eating behavior 18 months after bariatric surgery and its association with weight regain or loss. The results showed that binge eating symptoms negatively affected the amount of weight regained, with patients who had undergone surgery for longer periods showing higher weight regain. Bariatric surgery was found to be effective in improving diabetes mellitus and controlling obesity.