Turkish validity and reliability study of the eating behavior after bariatric surgery

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Eating Behavior After Bariatric Surgery (EBBS) questionnaire in Turkish. Material and Method: This research, which is a methodological study, included 123 adult individuals aged 18 and above who reside in Turkey and have undergone bariatric surgery at least three years ago. The Descriptive Information Form and the Post-Bariatric Surgery Eating Behavior Scale were used for data collection. While evaluating the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency were examined. The 'Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient' was calculated to determine the reliability level of the scale. Results: The internal consistency of the "Bariatric Surgery Post-operative Eating Behavior Questionnaire" was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, resulting in a value of 0.729 for the overall scale. When examining the subdimensions, values of 0.705 were found for the 'Food' subdimension, 0.773 for 'Beverages', 0.654 for 'Behaviors', and 0.583 for 'Lifestyle'. There was a positively directed but low-level relationship between the percentage of maintained weight loss, preoperative body weight, preoperative BMI, and the 'Food' and 'Beverages' subdimensions. A medium-level positive relationship was found between the percentage of total weight loss, the percentage of excess weight loss, the 'Behaviors' and 'Lifestyle' subdimensions, and the total questionnaire score. Additionally, a significant positive high-level relationship was determined between the percentage of maintained weight loss and the percentage of total weight loss (p<0.05). Conclusion: It has been determined that the Turkish version of the Bariatric Surgery Postoperative Eating Behavior Questionnaire is a valid and reliable measurement tool and it can be an effective measurement tool for evaluating patients' adherence to diet and lifestyle recommendations in both clinical and research settings after bariatric surgical procedures.