Body image and weight stigma following bariatric surgery

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Bariatric surgery, body image and weight stigma: the acceptability and feasibility of longitudinal research

• IRAS ID

  269370

• Contact name

  Claire Hamlet

• Contact email

  claire.hamlet@uwe.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of the West of England

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 3 months, 29 days

• Research summary

  Bariatric surgery (BS) refers to surgical procedures performed to restrict space in the stomach to achieve weight loss. Despite the increasing popularity of BS, it estimated 20-40% of patients regain the weight lost within two years, with the primary reason cited as non-compliance with the required changes in eating and exercise behaviour (Elkins et al., 2005). Research has found that poor body image (BI) and internalising weight stigma (WS) is detrimental to psychological wellbeing and therefore weight loss in those living with obesity. As such factors are unlikely to be addressed by surgery alone, they may have implications for the success of BS. Furthermore, although patients have high expectations for BS improving their appearance, weight loss typically slows down after 6 months (Bond et al., 2009) and patients can become dissatisfied about the post-surgical appearance of their body due to operation scarring and excess soft tissue (Gilmartin, 2013). This could have longer-term implications on patients’ psychosocial wellbeing.

  Therefore, the overall objective of the proposed study would be to establish if it is feasible and acceptable to conduct a longitudinal study (12+ months) in the NHS exploring BI and WS in patients who undergo BS. This will be achieved through a small scale study with a pretest-posttest design asking adults to complete BI measures before and 6 months after BS at North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT).
  Specific consideration will be paid to:
  1) Numbers of patients who are invited and subsequently agree to take part in the study
  2) Attrition rates pre to post follow-up
  3) Participants' views on data collection processes and self-report BI and WS measures (telephone or face-to-face interviews)
  4) Establishing what dimensions of BI and WS are affected by BS and whether these are related to the amount of weight loss

• REC name

  South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/SW/0175

• Date of REC Opinion

  22 Oct 2019

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion