Predictors of early weight loss in post‐bariatric surgery patients receiving adjunctive behavioural treatments for loss‐of‐control eating

Abstract

SummaryThis study examined baseline patient characteristics as predictors of early weight loss, defined as any weight loss within the first month of treatment, among patients receiving adjunctive behavioural treatments for loss‐of‐control (LOC) eating about 6 months after bariatric surgery. Participants were 126 patients in a treatment trial for LOC‐eating (roughly 6 months postoperatively) categorized by early weight change following 1 month of treatment. Early weight‐loss, defined as any weight loss following 1 month of treatment, and weight‐gain, defined as any weight gain, groups were compared on sociodemographic and clinical variables assessed using a battery of reliably administered diagnostic and clinical interviews and established self‐report measures, and on surgery‐related variables (time since surgery, percent total [%TWL], and percent excess weight loss). Most patients (n = 99; 78.6%) lost weight after the first month of adjunctive treatments. Black patients (n = 24; 61.5%) were significantly less likely to achieve early weight loss compared to patients identifying as White (n = 60; 83%) or ‘other’ (n = 15; 100%) which was not predicted by any other sociodemographic variable. Severity of eating‐disorder psychopathology, psychiatric comorbidity, and a broad range of psychosocial measures were not significantly predictive of early weight changes. Duration since surgery and percent weight loss from time of surgery to study enrolment 6‐months post‐surgery differed by early weight‐loss and weight‐gain groups. Findings suggest that among post‐bariatric surgery patients receiving adjunctive behavioural treatments for LOC‐eating, baseline patient characteristics, aside from race and surgery‐related variables, do not predict early weight loss.