Nagwa A. Souilm¹, Evon S. Shokre^2,

Obesity is a growing public health problem in Egypt, with many physical and psychological deleterious effects. Liposuction could have a positive effect on patients’ psychology. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of liposuction on overweight/obese patients’ eating concerns, body shape concerns, and self-esteem. This quasi-experimental one-group study was conducted in Bedayat private Hospital in Cairo on 70 adult patients undergoing liposuction. A self-administered questionnaire with three validated scales for eating concerns, body shape concerns, and self-esteem was utilized in data collection before and after liposuction. The fieldwork lasted from April to July 2018. The results showed that 84.3% of the patients were, with age range 23 to 58 years. There were significant decreases in the percentages of patients having dyslipidemia, from 25.7% before the liposuction to 5.7% after the liposuction (p=0.001). The scores of eating showed improvements (p<0.001), and the frequency of unhealthy eating practices decreased (p<0.001). The mean score of body shape concerns decreased from 5.1 before liposuction to 2.1 after liposuction (p<0.001), whereas the mean sores of self-esteem domains increased (p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, liposuction was the only significant independent negative predictor of the eating concern and body shape concern scores, and a significant positive predictor of the self-esteem score. In conclusion, liposuction is a safe procedure that leads to significant improvements in the patients’ eating concerns, body shape concerns, and self-esteem. The procedure is recommended for those suffering from such concerns and/or having low self-esteem. Further research is proposed to examine the long-term effects of liposuction on these parameters.

liposuction, eating concerns, body shape concerns, self-esteem