The relationship between eating psychopathology and obstructive sleep apnea in bariatric surgery candidates: A retrospective study.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), eating psychopathology, and major depressive disorder (MDD) are highly prevalent in patients with severe obesity. Our study aimed to identify differences in binge-eating disorder (BED) prevalence in bariatric surgery candidates with and without OSA.
Methods: In this retrospective study, demographic data, psychiatric diagnoses, OSA diagnosis, binge eating, depressive and quality of life (QOL) symptoms were collected from 1,099 bariatric surgery candidates from a Canadian setting. Analysis of variance was used to identify differences in psychopathology and QOL between groups with OSA and BED, BED alone, OSA alone or neither BED or OSA.
Results: Study participants' mean body mass index was 49.3 kg/m ² and 52.6% had a diagnosis of OSA. Patients with OSA were significantly more likely to have a diagnosis of past BED (χ ²  = 6.848, p = .009) and current MDD (χ ²  = 5.165, p = .023). Binge-eating (p < .001) and depressive symptoms (p < .001) were significantly higher in patients with co-morbid BED and OSA compared to patients with OSA alone or patients with no diagnosis of BED or OSA. Patients with co-morbid BED and OSA only had significantly lower physical (p < .001) and mental QOL (p = .007) compared to patients with no diagnosis of BED or OSA.
Discussion: Our findings suggest that patients with a history of BED should be reassessed for OSA. Research is needed to examine whether BED may predispose individuals to developing obesity and OSA.
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