CHANGES IN ANXIETY, EATING BEHAVIOR, AND BODY IMAGE AFTER BARIATRIC SURGERY

Abstract

Objective: To describe the trajectories of anxiety, depressive symptoms, eating behavior, and body image during the first postoperative year following bariatric surgery and to compare the observed patterns between two patient groups. Results: In the main group, the mean anxiety score decreased from 13.8 at 3 months to 10.5 at 6 months, then increased to 12.4 at 12 months. Depressive symptom scores showed a similar pattern, changing from 11.9 to 10.2 and then to 11.0, respectively. Emotional eating decreased at 6 months but increased by 12 months (3.10, 2.11, and 3.52, respectively). Body image disturbance scores also declined initially before increasing at the final assessment (3.7, 3.2, and 4.0). In the control group, anxiety, depressive symptom, and body image disturbance scores showed a consistent downward trend throughout the follow-up period. Conclusion: The observed patterns indicate differences in the postoperative trajectories of psychological indicators between the two groups. These findings highlight the importance of continued psychological monitoring beyond the early postoperative period. Further statistical analysis using validated longitudinal methods is required to determine the statistical significance of the observed differences.