Usefulness of Ultrasound in Assessing the Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Body Composition: a Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery (BS) has a significant impact on body composition. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the usefulness of musculoskeletal ultrasound (MUS) to bioelectrical impedance (BIA) in the follow-up of patients undergoing BS in terms of body composition and quality of life (QoL). METHODS: This is a prospective pilot study including 32 subjects (75% female, mean age: 49.15 ± 1.9 years) who underwent BS. Fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), and skeletal muscle index (SMI) were calculated by BIA. MUS measured subcutaneous fat (SF) and thigh muscle thickness (TMT) of the quadriceps. QoL was assessed by the Moorehead-Ardelt questionnaire. All these measurements were performed 1 month prior to BS and at 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: The mean BMI decreased by 6.63 ± 1.25 kg/m2 (p=0.001). We observed significant reductions in FM (p=0.001) and SF (p=0.007) and in LM (p=0.001) but not in SMI and TMT. We found a correlation between the FM and SF (pre-surgical, r=0.42, p=0.01; post-surgical, r=0.52, p=0.003) and between SMI and TMT (pre-surgical, r=0.35, p=0.04; post-surgical, r=0.38, p=0.03). QoL test showed significant improvement (p=0.001). In addition, a correlation between the QoL questionnaire and TMT post-surgery (r=0.91, p=0.019) was observed. However, we did not find any statistically significant correlation between QoL assessment and SMI or LM. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that MUS can be complementary to BIA for the evaluation and the follow-up of body composition after BS. TMT of quadriceps can provide relevant information about regional sarcopenia and has a significant correlation with QoL.

[Perception of the success of primary care health promotion in the province of Toledo]. / Percepción de éxito en programas de promoción de salud en la atención primaria de la provincia de Toledo.

OBJECTIVE: Identification of factors which can condition the perception by Primary Care professionals of success in health promotion. DESIGN: An observation study of a crossover type. PARTICIPANTS: 106 professionals (doctors, nurses and social workers) from 22 health centres in the province of Toledo, who filled in a questionnaire. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A non-conditional, multiple, logistic regression analysis was used. The professional satisfied with his/her work, not a doctor and who worked in a health centre open for less than 3 years, presented, against their opposite values, greater probability (OR 3.01, 2.41 and 1.24 respectively) of having a perception of success in health promotion. CONCLUSIONS: Health promotion undertaken in newly-opened centres, which involves in particular non-medical staff and, above all, is carried out by professionals satisfied with their habitual work, has a 77% probability of being considered successful by these professionals. These factors greatly facilitate its propagation in Primary Care.