Quality of life, physical activity, and socioeconomic status of candidates to bariatric surgery: cross-sectional study

Abstract

This research aimed to compare the quality of life (QOL) of candidates for bariatric surgery across different levels of physical activity (PA) and socioeconomic levels (SES). A cross-sectional study was conducted with 62 patients who were candidates for bariatric surgery (age= 39.53± 10.72 years and BMI= 50.05± 9.26 kg/m²) and were interviewed using the IPAQ, SF-36, and ABEP questionnaires. Comparisons of QOL between the PA and SES groups were conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The moderate PA group showed significantly higher scores than the Low group in the Functional Capacity domain (61.1± 25.0 vs. 40.8±23.2; p= 0.01). The Physical Aspects domain had a significantly higher score for the high PA group in comparison to the Low group (65.4±36.1 vs. 35.8±35.8; p= 0.029). Individuals with SES level B presented significantly higher scores than the SES level C group in the Functional Capacity domain (62.9±30.2 vs 46.6±23.9; p= 0.028), General Health status (48.9± 14.9 vs 33.4± 16.6; p= 0.001), Vitality (62.4± 26.4 vs. 43.8± 21.6; p= 0.007), Social Aspects (79.4± 29.3 vs. 61.1± 32.5; p= 0.04), Emotional Aspects (78.4± 35.2 vs. 45.9± 44.6; p= 0.01), and Mental Health (77.4± 21.2 vs. 60.4± 24.2; p= 0.008). This research demonstrated that individuals with morbid obesity who are candidates for bariatric surgery and have higher levels of physical activity and a higher socioeconomic level exhibit greater levels of quality of life.