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Employment Outcomes 2 Years After Bariatric Surgery: Relationship to Quality of Life and Psychosocial Predictors

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Abstract

Objectives

Bariatric surgery is the most effective long-term treatment for severe obesity. In addition to sustained weight loss, bariatric surgery can result in improvements in mental and physical health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and, consequently, work capacity. The purpose of our study was to evaluate changes to employment impairment (EI) and related HRQOL in patients 2 years post-bariatric surgery.

Methods

Prospective data was collected on a cohort of 211 patients who underwent bariatric surgery. The Lam Employment Absence and Productivity Scale (LEAPS) and the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) were used to assess pre- and post-operative EI and physical and mental HRQOL, respectively. Predictors of work impairment changes were analyzed via multiple regression analysis and included demographic variables, history of psychiatric illness, and depression and anxiety self-report measures.

Results

Significant improvements in employment outcomes 2 years following surgery were noted with 68% of participants reporting an overall decrease in EI (total LEAPS score change = − 2.43 ± 5.76, p < 0.001), and 44% participants reporting an increase in work productivity (LEAPS productivity score change = − 0.67 ± 2.38, p < 0.001). Bariatric surgery was also associated with significant improvements in physical (change = 17.41 ± 10.72, p < 0.001) and mental (change = 2.67 ± 12.89, p = 0.001). Improvements in HRQOL predicted improvements in work-related impairment and productivity, while history of psychiatric illness predicted was associated with reduced improvement in work productivity.

Conclusions

Our results provide further evidence of improvement in work productivity and reduction in EI post-bariatric surgery. This study also provides insights into potential predictors of work-related impairment and productivity.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our patients who participated in the study. We would also like to thank our Toronto Western Hospital Bariatric Surgery Program team members for their support.

Special Characters and Statistical Abbreviations

SDstandard deviation

CIconfidence interval

βstandardized beta (coefficient beta standardized to unit of standard deviation)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bariatric Surgery Program, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Canada

    Karin Kantarovich, Susan Wnuk, Raed Hawa & Sanjeev Sockalingam

  2. Centre for Mental Health, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada

    Karin Kantarovich, Susan Wnuk, Stephanie Cassin, Raed Hawa & Sanjeev Sockalingam

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Susan Wnuk, Stephanie Cassin, Raed Hawa & Sanjeev Sockalingam

  4. Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada

    Stephanie Cassin

  5. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Suite 2065, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada

    Sanjeev Sockalingam

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  1. Karin Kantarovich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjeev Sockalingam.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Kantarovich, K., Wnuk, S., Cassin, S. et al. Employment Outcomes 2 Years After Bariatric Surgery: Relationship to Quality of Life and Psychosocial Predictors. OBES SURG 29, 2854–2861 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-019-03905-5

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