Evaluation of Eating Disorders, Emotional State, and Quality of Life in Bariatric Surgery Patients: Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Several factors can influence the outcomes of bariatric surgery. The aim of this study is to compare eating disorders, emotional states, and quality of life (QoL) between individuals who have undergone bariatric surgery and bariatric surgery candidates and also to evaluate the relationship between these factors. Methods: A total number of 60 individuals (the case group:30, the control group:30), participated in a cross-sectional study. The following data were collected from face-to-face interviews: the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Emotional Eater-Questionnaire (EEQ), the Profile of Mood States-Questionnaire (POMS), and the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life-Lite Questionnaire (IWQOL-Lite). Results: Total EEQ scores, independent of surgery, showed that women were more emotional eaters than men (p = 0.002). The restraint subscale from the EDE-Q subscales showed that restrictive eating behaviors were more common in the case group (p = 0.05) According to the analysis of IWQOL-Lite subscales, the quality of life of the case group was higher in terms of physical functions (p = 0.02). In addition, eating disorders were positively correlated with emotional states and negatively correlated with quality of life. Conclusion: Eating disorders and emotional states were in a significant relationship with each other in bariatric surgery patients, and these problems negatively affected the quality of life.