title: Postoperative Follow-up After Bariatric Surgery: Effect on Weight Loss.
abstract: While adherence to long-term follow-up after bariatric surgery is a mandate for center of excellence certification, the effect of attrition on weight loss is not well understood. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of postoperative follow-up on 12-month weight loss using the Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database (BOLD) dataset. Patients with complete follow-up (3, 6, and 12 months) were compared to patients who had one or more prior missed visits. There were 51,081 patients with 12-month follow-up data available. After controlling for baseline characteristics, complete follow-up was independently associated with excess weight loss ≥50%, and total weight loss ≥30%. Adherence to postoperative follow-up is independently associated with improved 12-month weight loss after bariatric surgery. Bariatric programs should strive to achieve complete follow-up for all patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd, Greenville, NC, 27834, USA. SPANIOLASK@ecu.edu.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Spaniolas
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd, Greenville, NC, 27834, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Kasten
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd, Greenville, NC, 27834, USA.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Celio
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd, Greenville, NC, 27834, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Burruss
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd, Greenville, NC, 27834, USA.
authors.forename: Walter J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Pories
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D050110:Bariatric Surgery; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D066264:Datasets as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000067455:No-Show Patients; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000601:surgery*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Adherence; Attrition; Bariatric surgery; Follow-up; Weight loss