Quality of life in patients who underwent bariatric surgery at a tertiary hospital in Madina, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Background: Body mass index and comorbidities determine surgical indications for bariatric surgery. The study aimed to evaluate health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy to determine their perceptions of the surgical outcome and identify potential QoL-related factors. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted at King Fahad Hospital, Al-Madina, comprised 383 patients aged ≥18 years who had undergone bariatric surgery ≥3 months earlier. Sociodemographic and surgical complication data were collected using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)-QoL. Results: “Social functioning” had the highest mean (78.7 ± 19), followed by “role limitations due to physical health” and “pain” (76.8 ± 36.4 and 76.2 ± 25.3, respectively). One -third of the patients had diabetes mellitus, and two-thirds had hypertension. Older age, higher educational level, marriage, shorter post-operative period, and absence of complications were associated with higher scores in the “role limitations due to emotional issues” domain. Younger age, higher income, a more extended post-operative period, and being single were associated with higher scores in the “physical functioning” domain. Conclusion: Age, educational level, income, marital status, history of chronic disease, time since surgery, and complications were associated with QoL. Physical health functioning, emotional issues, energy/fatigue, and general health all had high QoL scores. Gastroesophageal reflux disease, gallbladder stones, and malnutrition were common complications post-operatively