Background

Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for severe obesity; however, relatively little is known about long-term functional outcomes. This study describes physical fitness and activity changes among bariatric surgery patients up to 5 years postoperatively.

Methods

Preoperatively, and 6 months and 5 years after surgery, 41 bariatric surgery patients wore an accelerometer to track physical activity and completed a submaximal graded treadmill test.

Results

Preoperatively, 32.4% of patients reported exertion as 'somewhat hard' at <3 estimated metabolic equivalents (METs; walking 2.5 mph). This decreased to 10.8% 6 months post-surgery and 11.8% at 5 years. Before surgery, only 7.5% of patients achieved 6 METs by the end of the treadmill test. This increased to 36.6% 6 months post-surgery and 42.1% at 5 years. Age and BMI predicted functional ability of patients over time; however, other predictors, such as overall activity level were not significant. Steps per day increased significantly from pre-surgery to 6 months (p=.045); however, this significant difference was not maintained at 5-years (p=.151). Moderate-to-vigorous minutes per day increased significantly from pre-surgery to 6 months (p=.026), and this difference was maintained at 5-years (p=<.001); however, 5-year results did not differ significantly from 6-months (p=.066).

Conclusions

Functional abilities of bariatric surgery patients increased post-surgery and were maintained over 5 years. Most patients remained unable to achieve METs equivalent to vigorous activity (hiking uphill or jogging) at intensities perceived as hard-to-very-hard. More research is needed to explore functional abilities of bariatric surgery patients over time and interventions that may optimize outcomes.