Abstract
Over recent years, it has become increasingly clear that health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome for assessing the effectiveness of bariatric surgery. HRQoL can be measured using unidimensional tools to assess factors such as mobility, mood, self-esteem, or eating behavior and multidimensional tools which assess health status in the broadest sense. This chapter will present these different measurement tools and also describe a number of tools which have been developed specific to bariatric surgery. It will then evaluate the pros and cons of each tool and consider the issues relevant for identifying the best tool for any given situation. The chapter will then provide an overview of the existing evidence for the impact of bariatric surgery on the quality of life and broader psychosocial outcomes. There is no single measure of HRQoL that meets all research or clinical needs for bariatric surgery. The choice of measure should not only take into account the evidence base for each tool together with its content validity but also the definition of HRQoL being used, the function of the measure being used, and the practicalities of the data collection process.