Original articlesTravel distance, age, and sex as factors in follow-up visit compliance in the post-gastric bypass population
Section snippets
Methods
In this study, data from all consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center (GLMC) during the period September 2001 to April 2003 were prospectively entered into an electronic database. All surgeries were performed by a single surgeon (SNK). The patients’ follow-up data was cross-referenced using their home zip codes. Travel distance from their place of residence to our clinic was determined using this information. Patients
Results
Of the 150 patients in the study group, 127 were female and 23 were male. The average age was 41.6 years, and the average body mass index (BMI) was 49.2. All patients were followed through the 12-month postoperative period. There were a total of 115 patients in the < 50 miles group, 21 patients in the 50 to 100 miles group, and 14 patients in the > 100 miles group. Figure 1 shows the number of patients from each group who were compliant with each follow-up appointment. Attrition began to be
Discussion
GLMC is a 350-physician, multispecialty group located in the western Wisconsin city of La Crosse. It serves an area covered by 19 counties across 3 states: Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, and northeastern Iowa. A community-based, 325-bed teaching hospital, GLMC has an accredited general surgery program that graduates 2 chief residents per year and a fellow in advanced laparoscopy with an emphasis in bariatric surgery.
Figure 3 depicts the tri-state region. The star represents La Crosse,
Conclusion
Many factors play a role in patient compliance with postoperative follow-up visits after gastric bypass surgery. Travel distance appears to be a significant factor at the 9-month appointment, but not at the 3-, 6-, and 12-month appointments. However, when controlling for sex, shorter travel distance is predictive of better compliance at the 12-month visit. Age does not appear to be a factor. The optimal schedule of follow-up visits in the post-gastric bypass population remains to be determined.
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Impact of patient follow-up on weight loss after bariatric surgery
Obes Surg
(2004)
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2021, Surgery for Obesity and Related DiseasesCitation Excerpt :To our knowledge, this is the first study examining the impact of adherence to follow-up during the first year after RYGB on subsequent risk of clinically significant malnutrition. Several authors have studied factors that predict adherence to medical follow-up after bariatric surgery [18,20,21]. Factors associated with nonadherence to follow-up include longer travel distance [20,21], younger age [18,21], higher preoperative BMI [18], and lack of health insurance [18].
The effectiveness of psychosocial interventions to support psychological well-being in post-operative bariatric patients: A systematic review of evidence
2020, Obesity Research and Clinical PracticeCitation Excerpt :Interventions delivered remotely improve reach and are more convenient [11]. Telephone delivered interventions may offer a convenient alternative to face-to-face interventions [63] for BS patients and have demonstrated efficacy in treating a range of populations (e.g., depression and anxiety [64]; binge eating [65]). Initial development costs of internet-based interventions can be high [30], however acceptability ratings in this review were high [11,30], showing that electronic tools improve compliance with self-monitoring compared to paper use [66,67].
Supported by the R. James Trane Surgical Research and Data Center of the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation, and the United States Surgical Corporation.