Research

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Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) slightly increases the risk of substance use disorders and suicide deaths more than 2 years post-surgery compared to nonsurgical controls.

Be aware that while MBS improves mental health symptoms, it may slightly increase the risk of substance use disorders and suicide more than 2 years after surgery. Long-term mental health support and monitoring are essential to mitigate these risks.

LimitedRefutesVERY_LOW confidence
MBS may slightly increase suicide deaths (1/1000 more people, 95% CI 0 fewer to 3 more; very low certainty) and substance use disorders (4/100 more, 95% CI from 1 to 9 more; low certainty) > 2- years post- surgery.
Emma A. van Reekum et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2025

Why this rating

Evidence certainty is rated 'low' for substance use and 'very low' for suicide.

Source

Psychiatric and Cognitive Functioning After Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Emma A. van Reekum et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2025

DOI 10.1111/obr.13968

Meta-analysis · 79 studiesCited 4×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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