Outpatient screening of health status and lifestyle among post-bariatric patients during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Background/Objectives

This was an out-of-hospital screening of health status and lifestyle during the Covid-19 pandemic in post-operative bariatric patients from Sao Paulo, Brazil, prevented from face-to-face health care.

Subjects/Methods

In this cross-sectional study, 66 patients were remotely (via phone call) and in-person (by home visit) assessed for health status and lifestyle habits. Results: Mean age was 47.4 years. Patients were obese grade I (30.0%), II (22.0%), and III (30.0%), and 94.2% had above reference waist circumference values. Sixty-four percent displayed high blood pressure, whereas 24% showed CRP levels above normal range. Nineteen percent of patients reported irregular use of nutritional supplementation and 6.0% reported binge eating habits. Thirty-three exhibited symptoms of depression. Mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms were reported by 27.4% and 11.3% of the patients; 4.5% exhibited suicidal ideation and were referred to a specialist for healthcare. Of relevance, inactive patients (59.6%) had poorer global mental and physical health scores as compared to active peers (both p<0.05). Conclusion: This out-of-hospital screening revealed that the absence of face-to-face health care due to the Covid-19 pandemic is associated with suboptimal status of physical and mental health as well as lifestyle inadequacies among patients who have recently undergone bariatric surgery.

Key points

• We performed an out-of-hospital screening in post-operative bariatric patients prevented from face-to-face health care during the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Sixty-five percent displayed high blood pressure, whereas 24% showed C-reactive protein levels above normal range.

• About one third showed mild to severe symptoms of depression, whereas ∼40% showed mild to severe anxiety symptoms.

• Inactive patients (59.6%) had poorer global mental and physical health scores as compared to active peers.

• Three patients exhibited suicidal ideation and were referred to a specialist for healthcare.

• During the Covid-19 pandemic, there are a considerable number of post-bariatric patients in need of direct health care.