Screening for Psychiatric Disorders in Bariatric Surgery Candidates with the German Version of the Patient Health Questionnaire

Abstract EN

Objective.

Obesity has been linked to psychiatric disorders in several studies.

Prevalence and severity of psychiatric disorders are high in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

Thus, psychiatric assessment of bariatric surgery candidates has become a standard procedure.

However, socially desirable responding leads to biased results in self-reported questionnaires.

Here, bariatric surgery candidates were screened with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D) additionally to the psychiatric examination.

Method.

355 bariatric surgery candidates filled in the PHQ-D before the psychiatric examination as a part of the surgery assessment procedure.

PHQ-D results were compared to psychiatric diagnoses and body mass index (BMI).

Results.

Gender ratio, mean BMI, and age were comparable to earlier studies.

Depressive and somatization symptoms did not correlate to BMI.

However, females showed higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders with elevated syndrome severity in depressive and somatization disorders, as well as more frequent antidepressant intake.

Eating disorders and addiction disorders were rarely reported.

Conclusion.

The findings suggest a socially desirable responding when filling in the PHQ-D before bariatric surgery.

The use of the PHQ-D in this patient sample could be augmented by psychometric tests with internal correction and validation scales.

Furthermore, psychiatric examination should be separated from the surgery evaluation process.