Picked up online by “Bariatric News” (Aug 2015) was a systematic review by Corrine Voils, PhD, as senior author of a paper titled: “Patient and Referring Practitioner Characteristics Associated with the Likelihood of Undergoing Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Review”.
The original publication appeared in JAMA Surgery July 29, 2015. The authors’ analysis found that primary care practitioners, those more knowledgeable about bariatric surgery, were more likely to refer patients. That’s a key point since bariatric surgery is the most cost-effective treatment for severe obesity and <1% of severely obese patients undergo the surgery.
Funk LM, Jolles S, Fischer LE, Voils CI. Patient and Referring Practitioner Characteristics Associated with the Likelihood of Undergoing Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Review. JAMA Surg. 2015 Jul 29. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2015.1250. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26222655 [Link]
Corrine Voils, PhD
Among several interesting findings 2 studies revealed that lack of knowledge was a barrier and more than half of the studies cited patient concerns about the outcomes and safety. However, patients were more likely to pursue surgery when it was recommended by referring practitioners. Also those practitioners who believed that obesity treatment should be covered by insurance were more likely to recommend bariatric surgery.
Congratulations to Dr. Voils and the co-authors for publishing this systematic review which has clinical impact!
