Abstract
Introduction: Obesity and metabolic syndrome are increasingly prevalent in the United States, particularly among African Americans and Latinos. Bariatric surgery has become one of the primary treatment modalities for obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, fewer Latinos and African Americans are undergoing bariatric surgery than whites. The aim of this article is to describe the disparities in seeking and accessing bariatric surgery, describe the outcomes following bariatric procedures in Latinos and African Americans, and offer recommendations and future research directions that may assist in addressing these disparities.Methods: Original research and review articles published in English were reviewed.Results: Potential reasons why Latinos and African Americans have low rates of seeking bariatric surgery are described. Disparities in access to care and financial coverage, low rates of referral by primary care providers, and cultural attitudes toward obesity in conjunction with mistrust of the healthcare system are discussed as potential contributors to the low rate of bariatric surgery in Latinos and African Americans. Finally, disparities in bariatric surgery outcomes, comorbidities, and complications are reviewed.Conclusions: Additional research studies in bariatric surgical disparities are needed. Recommendations and future directions that may help to reduce disparities in bariatric surgery are discussed.
Highlights
Obesity and metabolic syndrome are increasingly prevalent in the United States, among African Americans and Latinos
Disparities in access to care and financial coverage, low rates of referral by primary care providers, and cultural attitudes toward obesity in conjunction with mistrust of the healthcare system are discussed as potential contributors to the low rate of bariatric surgery in Latinos and African Americans
Several studies have described a lower rate of surgical weight-loss procedures being performed for African American/black and Latino patients compared with whites.[17,18,19]
Summary
Obesity and metabolic syndrome are increasingly prevalent in the United States, among African Americans and Latinos. The aim of this article is to describe the disparities in seeking and accessing bariatric surgery, describe the outcomes following bariatric procedures in Latinos and African Americans, and offer recommendations and future research directions that may assist in addressing these disparities. Disparities in access to care and financial coverage, low rates of referral by primary care providers, and cultural attitudes toward obesity in conjunction with mistrust of the healthcare system are discussed as potential contributors to the low rate of bariatric surgery in Latinos and African Americans. The overall weighted prevalence of severe obesity (BMI ‡40; class 3 obesity) across race and Hispanic origin (age adjusted) was 7.7%. Recent studies have elucidated the advantages of bariatric surgery in promoting sustained weight loss and improving comorbid medical conditions compared to lifestyle interventions and/or pharmacotherapies in isolation.[3,4,5,6,7,8] Improvement of medical comorbidities may persist despite regain of substantial weight following surgery.[9,10,11]
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