Physical activity in women attending a dissonance-based intervention after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: A 2-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

Background The majority of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) patients are not sufficiently physically active post-surgery, yet little support from the Swedish healthcare system is offered. We investigated if a dissonance-based group intervention, aiming to increase health-related quality of life after surgery, had any effect on patients' physical activity two years post-RYGB. Methods Women undergoing RYGB surgery were recruited from five Swedish hospitals and randomized to intervention or control group (standard post-surgery care). The dissonance-based intervention was conducted three months post-RYGB and consisted of four group sessions, each with a specific topic, of which one addressed physical activity. ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers were used to measure physical activity at pre-RYGB, one- and two-years post-surgery. Results At pre-RYGB, 259 women were recruited and randomized (intervention n = 156 and control n = 103). Participants had a mean age of 44.7 years (SD 10.3) and pre-RYGB body mass index of 40.8 (SD 4.5) kg/m(2). At two-years follow-up, 99 participants (63.5%) in intervention group and 68 (66.0%) in control group had valid accelerometer-measurements. Pre- to post-surgery increases were seen in all physical activity outcomes, but no statistically significant differences between the groups were observed at the two-years follow-up, and intervention effects were poor (d = 0.02-0.35). Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first dissonance-based intervention targeting women undergoing RYGB surgery. At two-years follow-up, we did not observe any differences in physical activity levels between the intervention group and control group.

Automated summary

This study investigated the impact of a dissonance-based intervention on post-surgery physical activity in women undergoing RYGB surgery. Results showed that there were no significant differences in physical activity levels between the intervention group and the control group at two years follow-up.