Psychological Predictors of Alcohol Use and Weight Loss After WLS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Psychological Predictors of Alcohol Use Disorder and Weight Loss Success Six Months Post-Bariatric Surgery
IRAS ID
216423
Contact name
Charlotte Hardman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
13/WS/0005, REC Reference Number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The effectiveness of bariatric surgery in improving severe obesity, and its associated co-morbidities, is well established. However, there is a growing awareness in secondary outcome variables such as alcohol consumption, given that increased incidence of alcohol use disorders are increasingly observed in the second post-operative year. Although this has been explored from a biological standpoint in the literature, psychological contributors have not been meaningfully explored. Therefore, examining variables such as anxiety, depression, optimism, quality of life and surgical expectations could yield insight into the potential contributors to post-surgical outcomes.
The present study is a collaboration between the University of Liverpool and Dr. Jennifer Logue, Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Metabolic Medicine, University of Glasgow. All data collection for the present study has already taken place through the NHS in Greater Glasgow & Clyde. The present study is limited to working with data collected from the Surgical Obesity Treatment Study (SCOTS), which is an observational study of over 2,000 patients undergoing weight loss surgery in Scotland. The data analysis will examine both pre-surgical variables and post-surgical outcomes, specifically as they relate to alcohol consumption and weight loss following surgery.
Specifically, the present study seeks to examine the following variables both pre and post-surgically: anxiety and depression, optimism, quality of life, alcohol consumption and weight. Further, pre-surgical expectations of weight loss surgery outcomes will be examined as a variable of interest. Given that these variables have been measured by questionnaire distributed by the SCOTS trial, the researchers from the University of Liverpool are seeking to analyse the relationship between these pre-surgical variables and post-surgical outcomes. The primary research objective is to examine whether lower mental health/quality of life relates to post-surgical alcohol consumption, and the secondary objective is to examine how they relate to post-surgical weight loss at six months.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/YH/0039
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion