Abstract
Quality of life (QoL) is considered to be the true measure for the effectiveness of a surgical procedure, but there are only a few validated instruments available for bariatric surgery. Therefore, a new diseasespecific 30-item instrument was created, which was called Bariatric Quality of Life (BQL) questionnaire. To validate the BQL, we studied 133 patients after 4 different types of bariatric surgery. Initially, mean body mass index (BMI) was 47.2 +/-7.6 kg/m2 and mean age was 38.8 +/-11.0 years. At baseline, and 1, 6, and 12 months after surgery, patients filled in the BQL, the SF-12 (Short Form of SF-36 Health Survey), the GIQLI (Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index), and the BAROS (Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System). Internal consistency of the BQL was found to be good, with Cronbach's alpha ranging between 0.71 and 0.86. Factor analyses suggested that the BQL included a highly consistent set of QoL items and a second part on co-morbidities and gastrointestinal symptoms. At the 12 months follow-up, the BQL was closely correlated to SF 12 (Pearson's r = 0.86), GIQLI (0.68), BAROS (0.71), and excess weight loss (0.55). Standardized effect sizes over time were larger for the BQL (1.39 and 1.58) than for the other instruments. The BQL questionnaire is a validated instrument ready for clinical use.
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