| Description |
Bariatric surgery has become a prevalent and effective method to reduce body weight and improve the health profiles of morbidly obese individuals. However, variability in the success of the procedure exists, yet few research studies have examined lifestyle changes that may enhance surgical outcomes. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to objectively monitor the physical activity patterns of bariatric patients, presurgery and postsurgery. The secondary purpose of this study was to build support for the validation of the Cross-Cultural Activity Participation (CAPS) weekly physical activity questionnaire, a questionnaire that may take the place of objective measurements. Twenty-four bariatric patients were recruited for this study (height: 165.6 ± 9.9 cm, weight: 121.8 ± 24.8 kg and BMI: 44.0 ± 6.5) and were asked to complete 2 office visits (1 presurgery and 1 postsurgery) for testing and wear an accelerometer physical activity monitor for 7 days presurgery and 7 days postsurgery. The office visits included body composition testing via Bod Pod, reporting of dietary intake, reporting of weekly exercise and completion of the CAPS questionnaire. Accelerometers were worn for 7 days presurgery and 7 days, 3 to 5 weeks postsurgery. Findings show that participants did not significantly change their physical activity patterns postsurgery (p ≥ 0.05). Physical activity appears to positively impact health and assist in the retention of weight loss. Therefore, the lack of change in physical activity postsurgery signifies a postsurgical lifestyle change that may be improved upon. An archived data set was used to determine the validity of the CAPS questionnaire. CAPS-derived reports of moderate to vigorous physical activity was not significantly correlated with steps per day. Further, regression analysis revealed that the CAPS questionnaire could explain only 5.2% of the variation in steps per day. Therefore, it does not appear that the CAPS questionnaire is a valid surrogate measure of physical activity. |
