Context: Obesity is considered to have a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
Objective: To compare HRQoL in a well-defined group of people with obesity with a population-based control group from the general public.
Design: Observational cross-sectional cohort study with a reference population.
Setting: The Regional Obesity Center at the Department of Medicine at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Participants: People with obesity (n = 1122) eligible for surgical and non-surgical obesity treatment in routine care were included consecutively between 2015 and 2017 into the BASUN study. Men and women from the WHO-MONICA-GOT project were used as a reference population (n = 414).
Main outcome measures: HRQoL was measured with the RAND-36/Short Form-36 questionnaire (SF-36) and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for self-related health (SRH). Prescription drugs for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, depression, and anxiety were taken as a proxy for these conditions.
Results: People with obesity rated their overall HRQoL lower than the reference population according to the SRH-VAS. Lower scores were reported on physical and social functioning, vitality, general and mental health after adjustment for age and use of prescription drugs (considered a proxy for burden of disease, or comorbidities) using the RAND-36/SF-36 questionnaire. Use of some psychopharmacological agents was more common in patients with obesity.
Conclusion: People with obesity seeking help with weight reduction are more likely to have lower physical and mental self-reported HRQoL than the general population.