Características psicológicas y sociodemográficas de un grupo de jóvenes candidatos a cirugía bariátrica

Study Purpose: Describe the demographic and psychological characteristics of young bariatric surgery candidates. Method: A descriptive, non-experimental, cross study. The questionnaire SF-36, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Health Scale, The Binge Eating Disorder Scale and the Family Apgar Questionnaire were carried out to 84 candidates for bariatric surgery patients between 14 and 26 years. Results: 71,4% were female, 96,4% single, 75,3% undergraduate students, 65,6% live with both parents and 6,7% by themselves. 81,1% report family history of obesity and 53,3% family diabetes. 80,8% point out previous nutritional treatments, 83,3% psychological ones and 66,2% psychiatric treatments. 69% drink alcohol, 38,6% say they perform regular physical activity. They present eating behavior such as binge (56,2%), vomiting (14,1%), fasting (10,3%), and use of laxatives or diuretics (8,3%). Out of all the psychological variables assessed, the only significant correlations found were: depression with ED, binge eating disorders and anxiety with physical limitations imposed by obesity. There was no significant association between anxiety and eating disorders in the study sample. Conclusions: The affective elements behaved differently than the ones described in adult samples, so they should be evaluated in a particular form for them.