Self-determination and motivation for bariatric surgery: a qualitative study

Abstract

This study examined how obese individuals acquire their motivation to undergo weight loss surgery and characterized the motivations within the framework of the self-determination theory (SDT). Participants expecting to have bariatric surgery were recruited and participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview accounts characterized different types of motivation for individuals seeking surgical weight loss treatments on the SDT continuum of relative autonomy. This study demonstrated that the more one’s motivation was internally regulated, related to one’s personal life and supported for competency, the more personal and hopeful were the anecdotes participants mentioned in accounts, thus the more positive the surgical outcomes were anticipated. Study limitations and future research were discussed as was the need for a systematic scheme to categorize types of motivation within the SDT, a longitudinal approach to measure actual weight loss outcomes based on the patient’s pre-surgical motivation, and a further investigation with a larger sample size and balanced gender ratio. Practical implications of the study findings were also discussed as a novel strategy to internalize bariatric patients’ motivation, further helping to improve their long-term quality of life post-surgery.

Keywords:

• Self-determination
• bariatric surgery
• motivation
• weight loss

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges Lynelle Diede, MSN, RN, C.B.N. and Michelle Carpenter, R.N., C.B.N. at the Bariatric Center of the Rockies for their collaboration in recruiting study participants. The author also thanks Kiri Langseth-Schmidt and Joan Walker for their assistance in auditing the interview data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.