Eligibility for bariatric surgery among adults in England: analysis of a national cross-sectional survey.
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the number eligible for bariatric surgery and their sociodemographic characteristics. DESIGN: We used Health Survey for England 2006 data, representative of the non-institutionalized English population. SETTING: The number of people eligible for bariatric surgery in England based on national guidance is unknown. The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence criteria for eligibility are those with body mass index (BMI) 35-40 kg/m(2) with at least one comorbidity potentially improved by losing weight or a BMI > 40 kg/m(2). PARTICIPANTS: Of 13,742 adult respondents (≥18 years), we excluded participants with invalid BMI (n = 2103), comorbidities (n = 2187) or sociodemographic variables (n = 27) data, for a final study sample of 9425 participants. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The comorbidities examined were hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease and osteoarthritis. Sociodemographic variables assessed included age, sex, employment status, highest educational qualification, social class and smoking status. RESULTS: 5.4% (95% CI 5.0-5.9) of the non-institutionalized adult population in England could meet criteria for having bariatric surgery after accounting for survey weights. Those eligible were more likely than the general population to be women (60.1% vs. 39.9%, p<0.01), retired (22.4% vs. 12.8% p<0.01), and have no formal educational qualifications (35.7% vs. 21.3%, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The number of adults potentially eligible for bariatric surgery in England (2,147,683 people based on these results and 2006 population estimates) far exceeds previous estimates of eligibility. In view of the sociodemographic characteristics of this group, careful resource allocation is required to ensure equitable access on the basis of need.
Date Issued
2014-01-16
Date Acceptance
2014-01-01
Citation
JRSM Open, 2014, 5 (1)
ISSN
2054-2704
Publisher
SAGE Publications (UK and US)
Journal / Book Title
JRSM Open
Volume
5
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2014 The Authors. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page(http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).
Identifier
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25057365
PII: 10.1177_2042533313512479
Subjects
bariatric surgery
guidelines
obesity
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
2042533313512479