Even with an Improved Social Life, Sexual Activity Is Only
Partially Improved by Plastic Surgery
Despite a lower frequency of sexual relations than the general
population (6.5 vs. 5.6 per month), most overweight patients
declare themselves satisfied with their sexual life both before
and after bariatric surgery. The margin of potential improvement
is hence narrower than in the other domains of the
HRQoL. This could explain that sexual activity is the only
domain where the majority of patients (48 %) feel no change
after RYGBP, and the improvement is only partial by BC.
Some patients (11 %) declare themselves even less satisfied
with their sexual life than before RYGBP, and the gain in
sexual activity is only marginal after BC. One of the explanation
could be that partners have some difficulty to adapt
themselves to the new image of the other after weight loss [30].
We have demonstrated that social life is considerably improved
after RYGBP and even more after BC. Hafner et al.
had also concluded that after bariatric surgery, women considered
themselves more attractive and more sociable, but
estimated that their husbands are less attractive than before.
Symmetrically, the husbands considered their wives too sociable
after surgery, in contrast to their pre-operative expectation
[31]. Furthermore, at least one study found a higher than
anticipated divorce rate following bariatric surgery