Longitudinal Follow-up and Comparison of Bariatric and Post-bariatric Body Contouring Patient's Health-related Quality of Life Relative to Population Norms Using the BODY-Q

HRQL is best measured through patient-reported outcomes (PRO), defined as a patient evaluation of outcomes without interference from clinicians or any other intermediary. A vast array of patient-reported outcome measure (PROM)s have been used in weight loss and BC patients, many of which do not possess strong evidence of reliability and validity for the patient population.

In 2016, The BODY-Q, a condition-specific PROM developed following internationally recommended guidelines to measure PRO in weight loss, including bariatric surgery, and body contouring surgery (BC) patients were introduced. It consists of 32 independently functioning scales measuring four domains: appearance, HRQL, eating-related concerns, and patient experience of care. It is rigorously tested to ensure content validity, reliability, and responsiveness. Due to the strongest evidence for validity and its psychometric properties, recent systematic review based on the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) methodology only recommend the BODY-Q for use in this patient population.

The BODY-Q has been shown to be responsive to change and subsequently to measure change over the entire weight loss trajectory, i.e., from obesity to weight loss with or without BC. In previous studies, the BODY-Q has been used to demonstrate the efficacy of weight loss therapy and BC.

However, a current limitation of the BODY-Q is the lack of general population norms as a reference value of the four domains (HRQL, appearance, eating-related concerns, and experience of care). To date, it is not known how published preoperative and postoperative scores compare to population norms, enabling a better understanding of HRQL of obesity and change through the weight loss trajectory.

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the change of HRQL through the entire weight loss journey from obesity to post-BC in a longitudinal, prospective cohort study of Danish patients. The study will be performed as part of an international collaboration and Danish data will be merged with data from the Netherlands, Finland, Poland, Italy, Germany, and the United States. The secondary aim of this study is to compare international patient results with the general population norms. The general population norms. Currently, the general population norms study is under submission.