Yumna Ahmad, Amy Weiss, MD, MPH, Sadaf Aslam, MD, MS
The purpose of this study is to develop a measure of readiness for bariatric surgery in severely obese adolescents. The rate of severe or extreme obesity in adolescents is consistently rising. Youth in this classification of weight are at high risk for developing chronic diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. Also, obesity that begins in childhood commonly persists into adulthood increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancers. However, bariatric surgery has been shown to be very effective in reducing BMI and reversing complications of obesity in adulthood. For this reason, bariatric surgery has begun to be used in adolescents as well and thus far has been shown to be a safe, effective, and viable treatment. This is a relatively new field of study on adolescents; nevertheless a 5-year study conducted in Sweden found that severely obese adolescents who opted for surgical intervention lost more weight than adolescents who chose non-interventional methods. In fact, the study found the adolescents who opted for non-interventional methods saw an increase or stagnant weight. As of now, there has not been much success in determining the best quantitative method to choose a candidate for adolescent bariatric surgery. Much of the research has focused on clinical interviews and psychological analysis. In this study, a questionnaire was created about bariatric surgery, life-style changes it entails, and precautions that adolescent patients need to take in diet, exercise, and management. The patient took the questionnaire during the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd visit with the interdisciplinary team, and then during their 6th visit with the interdisciplinary team. The survey was also administered to sixth visit patients who have not been administered the survey at their first visit. In total, the maximum number of times this questionnaire was taken by each subject is 2. It is hypothesized that their score should increase between the 6 visits. The decision made by the team regarding surgical intervention will also be recorded. Through data analysis, it will be determined whether there is a relationship between the score achieved on this test and the decision made by the clinical team. It is hypothesized that adolescent patients that achieve higher scores on the questionnaires will be more likely to be cleared for surgery. This research was supported by the Scholarly Concentrations Program at USF Health, Morsani College of Medicine.
