Psychopathology in a sample of candidate patients for bariatric surgery.

Background: The prevalence of morbid obesity and the popularity of bariatric surgery have grown in recent years. Many surgical protocols require that the candidates undergo a pre-operative psychological evaluation. We describe the psychopathological characteristics of both clinical syndromes (Axis I of the DSM-IV), as well as personality disorders (Axis II of the DSM-IV), in a sample of morbidly obese patients accepted as bariatric surgery candidates and who participate in a specific surgery preparatory programme, and we analyze its relationship with personality clusters.

Methods: The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) scores from 50 patients attending for bariatric surgery were cluster analyzed in hopes of identifying clinical subgroups corresponding to typical personality profiles.

Results: With regard to personality disorders, the highest prevalence was found in the histrionic disorder, followed by obsessive- compulsive disorder. Cluster analysis revealed three personality profiles, which were validated by examining demographics, morphological variables, scores on anxiety and depression psychometric scales, and MCMI-III clinical scales scores. Groups were different in virtually all the MCMI-III clinical scores, as well as in depression and trait anxiety, with Cluster 3 presenting the worst scores.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that morbidly obese patients are heterogeneous in their psychological profiles, highlighting Cluster C disorders.