Binge Eating, Loss of Control over Eating, Emotional Eating, and Night Eating After Bariatric Surgery: Results from the Toronto Bari-PSYCH Cohort Study.

Abstract

We explored the severity of binge eating, loss of control over eating, emotional eating, and night eating before bariatric surgery and annually for 3years following surgery. We also assessed the impact of post-operative eating psychopathology on weight outcomes. Eight hundred forty-four patients participated in this prospective cohort study. Demographic factors, self-report measures of eating pathology (BES, NEQ, EES, EDE-Q), and weights (kg) were collected pre-surgery and annually for 3years after surgery. The severity of problematic eating behaviors decreased after surgery and remained lower than baseline throughout follow-up. An increase was noted in binge eating scores (change in mean score ± SD = 0.85 ± 4.71; p= 0.002), emotional eating scores (2.00 ± 13.63; p= 0.033), and loss of control eating scores (1.11 ± 7.01; p< 0.001) after the first post-operative year that continued to the third post-operative year. There was also an increase in night eating scores between 2 and 3years post-surgery (2.52 ± 8.00; p= 0.01). Higher 1-year post-operative binge eating scores were a significant predictor of lower 2-year % total weight loss (β= - 0.39, confidence interval (CI) - 1.23, - 0.16, p = 0.012). The severity of problematic eating behaviors decrease after bariatric surgery, but increase significantly between the first and third post-operative years. Binge Eating Scale score at 1year post-surgery was the only significant predictor of reduced percent total weight loss at 2years. Additional prospective studies with adequate power are required to assess the progression of these eating pathologies beyond 3years and their impact on weight outcomes beyond 2years.