A Canadian study suggests that patients who undergo weight loss surgery may be more likely to attempt suicide after the weight-loss surgery, Reuters reports.
For the study, the researchers studied about 8,800 patients for three years before and after the weight loss surgery.
The study showed that during the first three years after surgery, roughly 1 percent of the patients received emergency care for self-inflicted injuries. The risk of these emergencies was 54 percent higher after surgery than it was before.
The study suggested that since the incidents of self-inflicted harm happened one to three years after bariatric surgeries, the patients might need more long-term behavioral healthcare after the weight loss surgery than they're getting.
Dr. Amir Ghaferi, author of an editorial accompanying the study in JAMA Surgery, said,
"Unfortunately, long term postoperative follow-up for bariatric patients is not ideal,"
"This study should not dissuade patients with mental health problems from seeking bariatric surgery," Ghaferi added.
In the current study, almost three in four of the self-inflicted injuries were identified as intentional drug overdoses. Also, the patients who inflicted injuries on themselves had been diagnosed with a mental disorder at some point in the five years before the surgery.
The study also showed that people over the age of 35 were 76 percent more likely to be treated for a self-inflicted injury after surgery than before. The risk of self-inflicted injuries was more than doubled for low-income patients.
