Psychological Predictors of Poor Weight Loss Following Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty

Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) does not produce homogeneous results, with some patients showing little weight loss after the procedure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ability of pre-procedural psychometric questionnaires to predict insufficient weight loss after ESG in patients with obesity. Patient candidates for ESG were requested to complete the following psychometric questionnaires: Short Form-36 (SF-36), Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R), Binge Eating Scale (BES), Yale Food Addiction Questionnaire (Y-FAS), Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26), and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11). The results of the psychometric scores were then compared with the ESG outcome, which was considered a therapeutic failure if the %EWL was less than 30% at 12 months after the follow-up. Thirty-five patients (8 males and 27 females, mean age 49 years, range 21–75 years) were included in this study. At the one-year follow-up, the mean %EWL was 40 ± 43%. Male sex and higher preoperative BMI were identified as risk factors for poor weight loss. A logistic regression analysis adjusted for sex and preoperative BMI showed that low scores on the SF-36 (Subscale Mental Health), high scores on the SCL₉0-R, and an elevated BES score were predictors of therapeutic failure. The results of the present study seem to confirm the usefulness of the SF-36, SCL-90R, and BES questionnaires in the selection of patients eligible for ESG.