ArticleInternational journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being2019
Exploring isolation, self-directed care and extensive follow-up: factors heightening the health and safety risks of bariatric surgery abroad among Canadian medical tourists.
Article in International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Decision-making about bariatric and cosmetic medical tourism from countries with universal healthcare: a rapid systematic review.Globalization and health · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of patient and clinician experiences of bariatric tourism.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2026Pooled it
- Residual Stigma and Internalized Weight Bias following Metabolic Bariatric Surgery.Obesity surgery · 2026Article
- Relationship Between Preoperative Surgical Fear, Anxiety, and Satisfaction Levels in Individuals Choosing Bariatric Surgery Tourism: A Descriptive, Cross-Sectional Study.Obesity surgery · 2025Article
- Beyond the Physical: Weight Stigma and the Bariatric Patient Journey.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Extensively Drug-Resistant Carbapenemase-Producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Medical Tourism from the United States to Mexico, 2018-2019.Emerging infectious diseases · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis article explores first-hand accounts of Canadian bariatric patients' experiences of seeking and obtaining weight loss surgery abroad through the practice of medical tourism. While researchers have identified many of the challenges and associated health and safety risks imposed on patients by engaging in medical tourism generally, little is known about the specific challenges experienced by Canadians seeking bariatric surgery abroad.
methodTo better understand these challenges, we conducted thematic analysis on interviews conducted with 20 former Canadian bariatric tourists.
resultsOur analysis illuminated three key challenges Canadians face in obtaining bariatric care: (1) stigma and isolation from friends, family and medical professionals; (2) self-directed navigation of domestic and destination health care systems; and (3) challenges with obtaining adequate follow-up care in Canada.
conclusionsWhile these challenges identified by participants may occur in other forms of medical tourism, it appears that these challenges are occurring simultaneously in cases of bariatric tourism by Canadians. These challenges appear to work in conjunction to heighten the health and safety risks potential Canadian bariatric tourists may be exposed to. Unless structural changes occur to increase domestic availability of bariatric surgery, Canadians are likely to continue seeking this care abroad.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.