Marital Status in Morbidly Obese Patients After Bariatric Surgery

Objective: The present study analyzes marital status in a group of morbidly obese patients who have undergone gastric reduction surgery, and evaluates whether the existence or absence of psychiatric comorbidity marks significant differences in their marital adjustment. Methods: The study sample included 85 morbidly obese patients (71 female, 14 male) who had received surgical treatment (vertical banded gastroplasty) for weight reduction. Twenty-five of these patients (29.41%) met ICD-10 cri-teria for the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders and they were included in the “Psychiatric Obese Group”. The other sixty patients (70.58%) did not show ICD-10 diagnostic criteria and they were included in the “Non-Psychiatric Obese Group”. Each patient completed the Enriching & Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication & Hap-piness (ENRICH). Results: Morbidly obese patients had poorer marital satisfaction (p<0.0001), personality issues (p<0.003), children and marriage relationships (p<0.0001), family and friends relationships (p<0.0001), and equalitarian roles (p<0.0001) than the community sample. Significant differences were found between the two groups (psychiatric and non-psychiatric obese group) in marital satisfaction (p<0.0001), personality issues (p<0.0001), communication (p<0.0001), conflict resolution (p<0.0001), financial management (p<0.003), sexual relations (p<0.0001), chil