title: Is Bariatric Surgery Effective in Reducing Comorbidities and Drug Costs? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess drug use and costs before and after bariatric surgery (BS). A systematic review of the literature was carried out using the MeSH terms obesity, bariatric surgery, and drug costs for searches of 10 electronic databases up to July 2014. Data were extracted from the 11 studies (37,720 patients) that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Where applicable, data were pooled by meta-analysis. The average number of drugs per patient decreased from 3.9 ± 1.86 before surgery to 1.75 ± 1.85 after surgery. Mean reduction in total cost of drugs was 49.8 % over a follow-up duration of 6-72 months. BS is effective for the improvement or resolution of comorbidities and significantly reduces drug use and costs.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós Graduação em Epidemiologia, Departamentode Medicina Social, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul-UFRGS, Av. Ramiro Barcelos, 2600, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, edyanelopes@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Heineck
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Athaydes
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Meinhardt
authors.forename: K E P
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Souto
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D050110:Bariatric Surgery / Q000191:economics; D015897:Comorbidity; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D016527:Drug Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000191:economics / Q000601:surgery*