ArticleSurgical endoscopy2022
Questioning the legitimacy of bariatric surgery: a qualitative analysis of individuals from the community who qualify for bariatric surgery.
Article in Surgical endoscopy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perceptions of Obesity and Treatment Decision-Making Among Hispanic-Latino Adults: Barriers to Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.Obesity science & practice · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Awareness of Obesity and Bariatric Surgeries in the Northern Borders Region, Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLittle is known about how individuals in the community who qualify for bariatric surgery perceive it and how this affects their likelihood to consider it for themselves. This study is the first qualitative study of a racially and ethnically diverse cohort to understand perceptions of bariatric surgery.
methodsWe designed a descriptive study to understand attitudes about bariatric surgery. We interviewed 32 individuals who met NIH criteria for bariatric surgery but have never considered bariatric surgery. We purposively sampled to ensure the majority of participants were non-white. Using an Interpretive Description framework, an exploratory, iterative method was used to code interviews and arrive at final themes.
resultsParticipants self-identified as 88% female, 75% Black, 3% Hispanic, 3% Pacific Islander, and 19% white. Three major themes emerged from our data regarding legitimacy of bariatric surgery. First, participants perceived bariatric surgery to be something commercialized rather than needed treatment. They equated bariatric surgery with "botulism of the lips" or "cool sculpting." Second, an important contributor to the lack of legitimacy as a medical treatment was that many had not heard about bariatric surgery before from their doctors. Doctors were trusted sources for legitimate information about health. Lastly, conflicting information over bariatric surgery-related diet and weight loss further diminished the legitimacy of bariatric surgery. As one participant reflected about pre-operative weight loss requirements, "[If] I'm going to do that, I might as well just keep losing the weight. Why even go do the surgery?".
conclusionThough bariatric surgery is a safe, effective, and durable therapy for patients with obesity, the majority of individuals we interviewed had concerns over the legitimacy of bariatric surgery as a medical treatment. Moving forward in reaching out to communities about bariatric surgery, healthcare providers and systems should consider the presentation of information to attenuate these concerns.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.