Abstract:

Introduction: Obesity is a disease of multifactorial causes and has been growing in Brazil and worldwide. Obese individuals usually present lower scores when evaluated regarding the domains of quality of life (QOL). Objective: To investigate the association between physical activity level (PAL) and QOL of obese patients before bariatric surgery. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study of a sample of 30 participants from the Bariatric Surgery Program from a Teaching Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Validated questionnaires were applied to assess NAF and QOL domains. Descriptive data analysis was performed and Spearman correlation was determined to evaluate the correlation between total PA time and QOL domains. To compare the median scores of those domains in relation to the PAL, Wilcoxon test (p<0.05) was applied. Results: Participants presented a median age of 41.5 years and a body mass index of 47.3 kg/m². The PAL classification indicated that 66.6% of the participants were active. The median 'functional capacity' score was significantly higher among active participants. A positive correlation was observed between PA time and the 'functional capacity' (r=0.571, p=0.001) and 'vitality' domains (r=0.454, p=0.011). Discussion: Studies show that PA can improve the quality of life, including in obese individuals, corroborating our results. Conclusion: The time spent in PA among morbidly obese individuals is positively associated with the perception of quality of life in the functional capacity and vitality domains.

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