The Potential Effectiveness of Behavior Therapy on Weight Loss Following Bariatric Surgery

Obesity is an ever increasing public health problem in this country. Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective treatment for morbid obesity and two hundred thousand surgeries are performed in the United States each year. Unfortunately, despite anatomically successful surgery, it is estimated that at most surgical centers about 30 percent of patients will not achieve significant weight loss following surgery. It has been proposed that participation in preoperative behavior therapy can enhance postoperative outcomes, although empirical evidence for this premise is lacking. The current study is a pilot project designed to conduct a prospective randomized trial to examine the impact of participation in a 12-week standardized preoperative behavioral weight management program on percentage of excess weight loss and psychosocial and medical outcomes at six months after roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. The cost of bariatric surgery is not covered by this study and only patients local to the Rochester, Minnesota area are eligible to participate.

It is hypothesized that patients who complete the 12-week behavioral program will experience greater weight loss and improved psychosocial and medical outcomes compared to controls.