Published in:
01-12-2013 | Original Contributions
Racial Disparity in Short-Term Outcomes after Gastric Bypass Surgery
Published in: Obesity Surgery | Issue 12/2013
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Background
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure is the most frequently performed bariatric surgery for the extremely obese in USA. However, the information about the effects of racial/ethnic differences, comorbidities, and medication use on weight loss outcomes is limited. The objectives of this study were to investigate if race/ethnicity, comorbidities, and medication use affect weight loss effectiveness after the surgery.
Methods
This is a retrospective observational study conducted at one teaching hospital at Houston metropolitan area, TX, USA. Patients between 18 and 64 years, with body mass index (BMI) of ≥40 or BMI of ≥35 with comorbidities, who had completed medical evaluations/consultations and met insurance policy requirements, were included in the study.
Results
From a total of 40 patients in the study (40 % African Americans, 35 % Caucasians, 17.5 % Hispanics, 7.5 % others), the weight loss was significantly greater in Caucasian patients at 6 months after the surgery, with mean percentage excess weight loss (%EWL) of 40.6 ± 17.3, as compared to all other racial groups combined at %EWL of 30.9 ± 11.5 (p value 0.04). No association was found between the 6-month weight loss and other variables including age, gender, BMI prior to surgery, comorbidities, and total number of medications taken before the surgery.
Conclusions
This study found that Caucasian patients had a significantly greater %EWL at 6 months post-op as compared to their African-American and Hispanic counterparts. No other variables exhibited significant impact on the weight loss. Further studies with a larger sample size are needed to confirm the results from this study.