Development and validation of a new bariatric-specific health-related quality of life instrument ′′bariatric and obesity-specific survey (BOSS)′′

Background: There is a lack of a psychometrically robust bariatric-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) tool. Aim: A single centre, prospective study to develop and validate a new bariatric-specific 81-item self-report HRQOL instrument called the Bariatric and Obesity-Specific Survey (BOSS). Materials and Methods: Data were collected from 236 participants. Of these 83 patients were under consideration for bariatric surgery (Group 1) 68 patients had undergone a bariatric procedure (Group 2) and 85 normal healthy participants (Group 3). At baseline, participants were asked to complete the Short Form Health survey (SF-36), Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HADS) scale, Moorehead-Ardelt Quality of life Questionnaire (M-A QoLQ II), and a demographic data sheet. Two weeks following the completion of these five questionnaires, participants were asked to complete BOSS once more along with a feedback sheet. Results: Exploratory factor analysis revealed a multidimensional instrument consisting of 42 items distributed over six domains that addressed various HRQOL aspects and dimensions pertinent to bariatric surgery, and relevant to morbidly obese patients. Further psychometric analysis showed that BOSS has adequate internal consistency reliability (Cronbach α = 0.970), test re-test reliability (ICC = 0.926), construct validity, criterion validity, face validity and acceptability. Conclusion: BOSS thus appears to be a valid and reliable multidimensional instrument that provides a clinically useful and relevant measure to assess HRQOL in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.