Assessing how bariatric surgery, emotional eating, and depression could affect each other: A cross-sectional study

Emotional eating (EE) has been found to be associated with depression, anxiety, excessive weight, obesity, and unhealthy eating habits. EE could also be associated with recurrent weight gain. To date, the factors predicting success following bariatric surgery remain uncertain. In addition, there is a paucity of data regarding the associations between EE, percent of total weight loss (TWL), and depression after bariatric surgery. The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationship between EE behavior, depression, and TWL, and to identify other factors, such as the type of bariatric surgery, that may have an impact on EE, depression and TWL after bariatric surgery. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 253 patients who underwent bariatric surgery between 2014 and 2021 at the Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University. In total, 115 patients agreed to participate and completed the questionnaire. The administered scales consisted of the Sociodemographic Data Form, Emotional Eating Scale (EES), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The participants were divided into the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) groups. The RYGB and SG groups included 79 (68.8%) and 36 (31.3%) patients, respectively. A significant difference was found in terms of age (P = .002) and gender (P = .033). The BDI scores (P = .499) and TWL (P = .068) did not differ significantly. The EES score was higher in the SG group (P = .020). Between the groups with and without EE, age (P = .004) and BDI scores (P = .004) were significantly different. In correlation analyses, EES score was related to BDI score(rho = 0.402, P < .001) and age(rho = -0.348, P = .002) in the RYGB group. In regression analyses, TWL was associated with age (beta = -0.366, P < .001) and surgery type (beta = -6.740, P < .001), EES score was associated with BDI score (beta = 0.149, P = .009) and age (beta = -0.154, P = .006), and BDI score was associated with EES score (beta = 0.419, P = .009) and age (beta = -195, P = .041). In patients with moderate-to-severe depression, TWL was higher than in those without depression (P = .025). The effect of emotional eating and depression on TWL was not detected. Emotional eating and depression trigger each other in the individuals who underwent bariatric surgery. Young individuals who undergo bariatric surgery are more vulnerable to emotional eating and depression than older patients.