Psychosocial characteristics associated with symptom perception one year after gastric bypass surgery – A prospective study

Background The experience of symptoms after bariatric surgery such as pain, dumping, and fatigue, may affect behavior, quality of life, and the need for health care consultations. Attention to and interpretation of symptoms are influenced by psychological and contextual factors. Prospective studies of psychological factors predicting physical symptom perception after bariatric surgery are scarce. Objectives To explore the association of preoperative negative affect, history of traumatic sexual and violent events, with frequency and intensity of self-reported symptoms, one year after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). Setting University hospital Methods Questionnaire data were collected before and one year after RYGB from 230 patients. Negative affect and stressful negative life events were measured preoperatively. The participants reported the number and degree of impact of various physical symptoms postoperatively. Results The most common symptoms reported to have a high impact on behavior were fatigue (32.8%), and dumping (28.4%). Reporting more symptoms was associated with preoperative anxiety (r = .22, p = .001), and number of stressful life events (r = .21, p = .002). Participants with a probable preoperative anxiety disorder reported higher impact of fatigue, pain, dumping, and diarrhea after surgery, while those with a probable mood disorder and history of traumatic events reported higher impact of dumping. Conclusion Preoperative anxiety symptoms and stressful experiences were associated with higher perceived impact of symptoms, such as dumping, fatigue, and pain after RYGB. Evaluation of psychological characteristics associated with symptom perception may be relevant during handling of symptoms not responsive to other treatment measures.