Why Don’t More People Get Bariatric Surgery?

Obesity rates are rising. However, bariatric surgery utilization remains low. For over five decades surgeons have used procedures that help reduce a patient’s weight. The procedures include gastric bypass, duodenal switch, gastric banding, and sleeve gastrectomy. Research shows that these procedures are more effective. This helps patients lose weight faster than traditional methods such as dieting and exercise. 

However, the number of eligible people who use bariatric surgery remains around 0.5%. This is a decrease from the 1990s. Then the rate was 0.7%. In this time period, the number of patients who qualified for bariatric surgery tripled. 

One specific cause for this has not been found. However, it is believed that this lack of bariatric surgery utilization could be due to many combined factors, such as a slowly growing workforce, misconceptions, skepticism, and a hesitancy by some providers to refer patients for bariatric surgery. On top of this are insurance and financial hurdles. These are another common challenge that could be contributing to this lower utilization rate. 

Weight loss surgery is life saving. It is for hundreds of thousands of people. Thousands more could be helped. But they don’t get the care. Why don’t more people get it?

Consider the Numbers

More than 346 million people live in the United States. 20% of them could get weight loss surgery. That’s scary. Why is that?

That means 20% of Americans have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35. They may have a BMI of 30 with another medical condition related to weight. That could include type 2 diabetes. Or it may be high blood pressure. That’s about 69 million people. That’s an incredible number of people.

Just 200,000 to 300,000 people get surgery. That’s so few who could! So many more could receive help. Yet, they don’t.

Reasons Why People Do Not Get Bariatric Surgery

Why do so many people do not get weight loss surgery? It’s hard to know. There could be numerous reasons. Mostly, we don’t know though.

One of the most common is insurance. A study published by the National Institutes of Health has some worrisome facts. About 53% of doctors believe their patients cannot afford the procedure. However, most insurance companies will cover the cost if necessitated by health. Still, out-of-pocket costs are a key factor.

Patients also don’t often know they qualify. Doctors may continue to push other weight loss methods. That may include eating healthy and exercise. The NIH study above cited a lack of patient and physician communication as another factor. That study found 71.1% of patients who received weight loss surgery did not learn about it from their primary care doctor. That is, their doctor never mentioned it.

Misconception about risks and benefits is another big factor. All surgeries carry some risk. Weight loss surgery is a very serious procedure. Yet, many people fear its use.

It is not fully understood why more people do not get a life saving procedure that’s been used for more than 60 years to treat obesity. If you have thought about this procedure, it may be time to open up the conversation yourself. Talk to your doctor. Reach out to a weight loss clinic.