Autoestima e prevalência de depressão em pacientes com indicação de cirurgia bariátrica

The World Health Organization (Who, 2014) acknowledges that obesity is one of the biggest issues concerning public health around the world. It also claims that the bariatric surgery has been chosen as the treatment for the severe obesity as it promotes an important weight loss. Considering this, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the self-esteem and depression among patients who will undergo bariatric surgery. In this manner, a cross-sectional study was carried out with a primary data collection and convenience sample. The patients evaluated were adults (age >18 years old), men and women, participants of preoperative care groups for bariatric surgery, from the unified health care system in Brazil, the Sistema Único de Saúde - better known by the acronym SUS. The self-esteem evaluation followed Rosenberg’s scale and the depression evaluation was based on Beck’s Depression Inventory. The research was conducted with 190 patients. Most of them (84, 21%) were females ranged from 30 to 44 years old. Nearly two-thirds (66, 84%) had class III obesity (severe). Self-esteem was considered healthy to 85% of the participants and 76% demonstrated depressive symptoms. Thus, the discussion involves the results concerning the self-esteem that dissent from the literature and sustain the idea of depression. Therefore, this study shows the necessity of psychological counselling for patients who are in preparation for the bariatric surgery due to the high prevalence of depression.