To determine the prevalence of different psychiatric comorbidities in patients with obesity and study their relationship with the degrees of obesity.
This cross-sectional study included 151 patients with a BMI≥25 kg/m. Subjects with diagnosed psychiatric illness, type 2 diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease or any neurological illness were excluded. Prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities was assessed by MINI screening tool for all major axis 1 disorders including anxiety, eating and mood disorders. The WHOQOL-BREF was used for assessment of well-being, in the four domains, physical, psychological, social and environmental.
Females constituted 68.6% of the study population. Lifetime diagnosis of any psychiatric illness was present in 24%, higher in females than males [31% vs 9%, p = 0.003]. The WHOQOL-BREF average scores of psychological, physical and environmental domains were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in patients diagnosed with depression as compared to those without. The WHOQOL-BREF average score of only the physical domain were significantly lower in individuals with BMI ≥30 kg/m as compared to those with BMI <30 kg/m.
The burden of undiagnosed psychiatric comorbidity in patients with obesity decreases the quality of life. There is need to screen for psychiatric comorbidities for effective management of obesity.

Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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