Abstract
Background: Obese patients have lower health-related quality of life (QoL) scores than the general population. Weight loss is associated with improvements in various quality of life domains. The relationship between weight loss after dietary changes and QoL remains unclear.
Objective: To assess QoL in adult (aged more than 18 years) obese patients who participated in a weight reduction program in Saudi Arabia, 2018.
Methodology: A quasi-experimental study was performed using 90 adult obese patients. To assess QoL and take anthropometric measurements in participants that met inclusion criteria, the Short Form 36 was completed before and 3 months after the weight reduction program. The paired Student t test was used to find differences between groups.
Results: The response rate was 85.5% (77 of 90) in the weight reduction program group. The weight reduction program improved most of the domains in the Short Form 36. Global QoL significantly (p < 0.05) increased from 55.3 +/- 16.1 (mean +/- standard deviation) to 64.0 +/- 19.1.
Conclusion: The weight reduction program is associated with improvement in most QoL domains but mostly in role limitations in physical and emotional health.