Weight loss patients not getting suggested care say UEA
Clinical guidelines suggest patients receive nutritional help and weight monitoring annually for life
Weight loss surgery patients might not be receiving the reccomended follow up care from their GPs according to research from the UEA.
Clinical guidelines suggest patients receive nutritional help and weight monitoring annually for life.
A new study published reveals that might not be happening, which could cause serious health problems.
The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network West Midlands.
Lead researcher Dr Helen Parretti, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Obesity is a healthcare priority and weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery is an effective treatment.
“It can lead to significant weight loss and improve many obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure. It is the most cost-effective treatment for severe obesity and it can achieve dramatic weight loss. But it’s not a cure for obesity on its own.
“Patients are supported to make changes to their eating before surgery and these changes need to continue after surgery to help avoid putting weight back on and to keep well. In addition, it is important that patients take lifelong nutritional supplements after their surgery.
“But patients need support to achieve this after their operations and current guidance recommends this is offered by GPs. Without this, weight loss surgery has long-term risks such as nutritional deficiencies and weight regain can occur.
“There is international clinical consensus that long-term follow-up care following bariatric surgery is important to optimise patient outcomes and reduce the risk of preventable harms.
“We wanted to find out whether the nutritional care and weight monitoring delivered by GPs following bariatric surgery meets current clinical guidance.”
The team studied data from 3,137 patients in the UK who had received bariatric surgery between 2000 and 2015.
Dr Parretti said: “We found that in most cases, patients were not receiving the recommended long-term monitoring after they are discharged from bariatric services.
“We found that only around half of the participants were having their weight measured annually. In addition, only around half were having blood tests for nutritional deficiencies commonly seen in general practice, such as anaemia. The percentage of participants having blood tests more specific to bariatric surgery was very low - around five percent or less each year.
“The most common deficiency we found was anaemia – around 40-50 per cent of those patients who had had a blood test.
“We also found that the proportion of patients with prescriptions for recommended nutritional supplements was low.
“This shows that there is an urgent need to support GPs and patients to engage with post-bariatric surgery nutritional reviews and monitoring, for example through education and commissioning of services to provide this long-term care.”
‘Post-bariatric surgery nutritional follow-up in primary care: a population-based cohort study’ is published in the British Journal of General Practice.