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Is Pre-operation Social Connectedness Associated with Weight Loss up to 2 Years Post Bariatric Surgery?

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Abstract

Background

To date, little attention has been paid to supportive relationships as factors contributing to weight loss from bariatric surgery.

Material and Methods

This prospective study examined whether total percentage weight loss (%TWL) at 3, 12 and 24 months post-surgery varies by distinct aspects of pre-surgery social support (received emotional and practical support and contact with friends and family) in a sample of bariatric surgery candidates (n = 182). These associations were tested with linear regression models adjusted for gender, age, ethnicity, employment status, self-esteem, mastery and time elapsed since the day of surgery.

Results

One hundred fifty-four participants underwent a bariatric procedure, and all but seven provided weight loss data at least at one occasion. Emotional support and contact with friends were positively associated with %TWL at 3, 12 and 24 months, and the magnitude of these associations was large. For instance, in the fully adjusted models, %TWL at 24 months increased by 2.36% (SE 1.17, p = 0.048) with each increase of one standard deviation in emotional support and was higher by 9.23% (SE 4.31, p = 0.035) for participants who reported seeing 1–5 friends per month compared with those who saw none. There was some evidence for a positive association between practical support and %TWL at 3 and 12 months post-surgery.

Conclusion

Supportive relationships are important contributors to weight loss from bariatric surgery. If replicated in future studies, these findings could inform clinical care and interventions aimed at improving support systems of bariatric surgery candidates.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all study participants and all members, past and present, of the UCLH Bariatric Group. In particular, we would like to thank Mr. Andreas Mann for his administrative support.

Funding

UT’s time on this manuscript was supported by CRUCIBLE doctoral stipend. MK’s time on this manuscript was partially supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (RES-596-28-0001). AP is supported by Stoneygate Trust, Robert Luff Foundation and Rosetrees Trust (A492 JS15/M352). RB is supported by National Institute of Health Research (RP-2015-06-005), Sir Jules Thorn Trust, Stoneygate Trust, Robert Luff Foundation and Rosetrees Trust (A492 JS15/M352). MS was supported by U.K. Medical Research Council (Grant MRC_MC_UU_12019/5).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Mai Stafford and Rachel L. Batterham are joint last/senior authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

    Urszula Tymoszuk & Meena Kumari

  2. Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Meena Kumari

  3. Centre for Obesity Research, Rayne Institute, Department of Medicine, University College London, London, UK

    Andrea Pucci, Wui Hang Cheung, Mohamed Elkalaawy & Rachel L. Batterham

  4. University College London Hospital (UCLH) Centre for Weight Management and Metabolic Surgery, London, UK

    Andrea Pucci, Amy Kirk, Anita Tschiala, Kayon Carr-Rose, Helen Kingett, Jacqueline Doyle, Andrew Jenkinson, Majid Hashemi, Marco Adamo, Mohamed Elkalaawy & Rachel L. Batterham

  5. Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Mohamed Elkalaawy

  6. Clinical and Experimental Surgery Department, Medical Research Institute, University of Alexandria, Hadara, Alexandria, Egypt

    Mohamed Elkalaawy

  7. MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, UK

    Mai Stafford

  8. National Institute of Health Research, UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK

    Rachel L. Batterham

Authors
  1. Urszula Tymoszuk
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  2. Meena Kumari
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  3. Andrea Pucci
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  10. Andrew Jenkinson
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  14. Mai Stafford
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  15. Rachel L. Batterham
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Urszula Tymoszuk.

Ethics declarations

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. Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Health Research Authority’s National Research Ethics Service Committee London - Harrow.

Informed Consent

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

Conflict of Interest

Urszula Tymoszuk, Meena Kumari, Andrea Pucci, Wui Hang Cheung, Amy Kirk, Anita Tschiala, Kayon Carr-Rose, Helen Kingett, Jacqueline Doyle, Andrew Jenkinson, Majid Hashemi and Mai Stafford report no conflict of interest. Rachel Batterham reports grants from Fractyl, other from Novo Nordisk, other from Orexigen, other from Medtronic, other from Ethicon and other from Nestle, outside the submitted work. Marco Adamo reports grants and personal fees from Olympus, grants and other from Ethicon, grants and personal fees from Gore and other from Stryker, outside the submitted work. Mohamed Elkalaawy reports other from Johnson & Johnson, personal fees from WL Gore, personal fees and other from Olympus Keymed, outside the submitted work.

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Tymoszuk, U., Kumari, M., Pucci, A. et al. Is Pre-operation Social Connectedness Associated with Weight Loss up to 2 Years Post Bariatric Surgery?. OBES SURG 28, 3524–3530 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-018-3378-6

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