Body contouring surgery improves long-term satisfaction with appearance and health-related quality of life after bariatric surgery: BODY-Q results from a Danish cohort study

Background: Patient-reported outcomes are crucial in bariatric surgery (BaS) and body contouring surgery (BC) since patients’ goals include improvement in appearance and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). The BODY-Q is a patient-reported outcome measure developed to measure change in satisfaction with appearance and HR-QOL in BaS and BC patients. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine BODY-Q scores over the entire weight loss journey, and to investigate the impact of BC after BaS. Methods: Patients completed the BODY-Q pre/post-BaS and BC at four hospital departments in Denmark between 2015 and 2019. Cross-sectional scores were analyzed by phase of weight loss journey using one-way ANOVA. Scores for patients who provided longitudinal assessments were analyzed using repeat measures ANOVA and paired T-test. The impact of BC was examined over time after BaS, using an Independent T-test from pre BaS through >7 years post BaS. Results: The study included 1527 patients who provided 2285 BODY-Q assessments. The cross-sectional analysis by phase of weight loss journey showed higher scores post-BaS, lower scores pre-BC and highest level scores post-BC. The longitudinal analysis showed higher post-surgery mean scores compared to pre-surgery scores for both BaS and BC. The analysis over time after BaS revealed lower mean scores in patients who did not receive BC. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence of the positive impact of BaS and BC on patients’ lives and underline the importance of considering BC to finalize the weight loss journey as it helps to maintain improvements in appearance and HR-QOL.