Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/759723
A RE VIE W OF STUDIES BY RESE ARCHERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND AUSTR ALIA FINDS PAT TERNS OF IMPROVEMENT IN PHYSICAL ACTIVIT Y AND ABILIT Y 12 MONTHS AF TER BARIATRIC SURGERY. THE NOTION THAT physica l activity improves following weight-loss surgery is not new to clinicians. A literature review by French researchers published in the journal Obesity Reviews in 2011, for example, noted increases in physical activity after surgery based on patient sel f-a ssessment s. Unt i l recent ly, however, objective data about postop- erative physical activity and function were lacking, according to Louisa Herring, PhD, researcher in physical activity, obesity and bariatric surgery at the Leicester Diabetes Centre in the United Kingdom. Herring and co- investigators undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies involving adult weight-loss surgery patients. It included measures of pre- a nd postoperative physica l activity and function. Their fi nd- ings were published recently in Obesity Reviews. "Physical activity and physical function research in those indi- vidua ls undergoing or who have undergone bariatric surgery was and still is in its infancy," Herring says. "Given that the literature in this research area is rapidly grow- i n g , a c o m p r e h e n s i v e a n d up-to-date review of the evidence wa s due. Ea rly resea rch wa s predomina ntly based on self- repor t ed m e a s u r e s o f b o t h physical activity and physical function. More recent research has objectively measured these areas, hence the reason for including research looking at both objective and self-reported physical activ- ity and physical function [in our review]." ACTIVITY TAKES A STEP UP Fifty studies met the researchers' crite- ria«for inclusion in the review, including 26«whose data made up the meta-analysis. Most patients in the studies had under- gone« R ou x- en-Y ga s t r ic b y pa s s or gastric«banding. "We found evidence demonstrating that objective and self-reported physical activity improved by 12 months after bariatric surgery," Melanie J. Davies, CBE, MB, ChB, MD, FRCP, FRCGP, Co-director of the Diabetes Research Centre and Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, stated in a news release. "A decrease in objectively measured moderate to vigorous activity and an increase in step count at three to six months indicated a shift towards a greater amount of lower intensity physical activity within the fi rst six months after surgery. Walking, musculoskeletal and self-reported physical function all improved by 12 months." The data seemed to suggest that losing weight after bariatric surgery spurred patients to walk more. " W hen looking at wa lking as a mea- surement of physica l function, wa lking in Physical Activity and Function SPECIAL CLINICAL SECTION: BARIATRICS