Long-term incidence of serious fall-related injuries after bariatric surgery in Swedish obese subjects

Int J Obes (Lond). 2019 Apr;43(4):933-937. doi: 10.1038/s41366-018-0097-y. Epub 2018 May 24.

Abstract

Obesity increases risk of falling, but the effect of bariatric surgery on fall-related injuries is unknown. The aim of this study was therefore to study the association between bariatric surgery and long-term incidence of fall-related injuries in the prospective, controlled Swedish Obese Subjects study. At inclusion, body mass index was ≥ 34 kg/m2 in men and ≥38 kg/m2 in women. The surgery per-protocol group (n = 2007) underwent gastric bypass (n = 266), banding (n = 376), or vertical banded gastroplasty (n = 1365), and controls (n = 2040) received usual care. At the time of analysis (31 December 2013), median follow-up was 19 years (maximal 26 years). Fall-related injuries requiring hospital treatment were captured using data from the Swedish National Patient Register. During follow-up, there were 617 first-time fall-related injuries in the surgery group and 513 in the control group (adjusted hazard ratio 1.21, 95% CI, 1.07-1.36; P = 0.002). The incidence differed between treatment groups (P < 0.001, log-rank test) and was higher after gastric bypass than after usual care, banding and vertical banded gastroplasty (adjusted hazard ratio 0.50-0.52, P < 0.001 for all three comparisons). In conclusion, gastric bypass surgery was associated with increased risk of serious fall-related injury requiring hospital treatment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Accidental Falls / prevention & control
  • Accidental Falls / statistics & numerical data*
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gastric Bypass / adverse effects*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Obesity, Morbid / physiopathology
  • Obesity, Morbid / surgery*
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Prospective Studies
  • Sweden / epidemiology
  • Treatment Outcome