WEDNESDAY, June 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Preoperative psychiatric diagnoses are not associated with weight loss outcomes in severely obese adolescents receiving bariatric surgery, according to a study published online June 1 in Pediatrics.
Eleanor R. Mackey, Ph.D., from the Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C., and colleagues evaluated the rates of psychiatric diagnoses in 169 severely obese adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery versus 53 with severe obesity not receiving surgery, as well as the association of preoperative psychiatric diagnoses with weight loss outcomes three to 12 months after surgery (2009 to 2017).
The researchers found that 71 percent of adolescents qualified for a psychiatric disorder. Rates of specific disorders or numbers of diagnoses did not differ between those receiving surgery and those not receiving surgery. There was no association between the presence or absence or number of diagnoses before surgery and weight loss outcomes after surgery.
“The presurgical psychological evaluation serves as an opportunity to identify adolescents experiencing psychiatric problems and provide them with care but should not necessarily be considered a contraindication to surgery,” the authors write.
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