Laparoscopic bariatric patients' will to help: the foundation of research

Bariatric surgery is a fast growing field. Clinical research is essential to its safe delivery. Bariatric patient enthusiasm for research participation has never been objectively measured. Our hypothesis was that most laparoscopic bariatric surgery patients would participate in clinical research.

All postoperative patients were surveyed querying their willingness to participate in studies and quantifying the level of time, effort, and commitment they would comply with. Fisher's exact test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the chi-square test were used to analyzed the responses. A total of 97 patients were the subject of this inquiry.

Of the 97 patients, 92% were willing to participate. Willingness was independent of race or diabetic status. Of those willing to participate, 93% agreed to additional blood tests done during routine blood draws and 75% agreed to additional blood draws. Although 98% agreed to donate fat samples during surgery, only 76% would donate at 1 month postoperatively. Also, 80% would spend 6 hours at 1 month postoperatively in the hospital for preoperative research. This decreased to 56% and 56% for 12 and 24 hours, respectively (P = .004). For postoperative research, 72% committed to 6 hours per month in the hospital. This decreased to 60% and 54% for 12 and 24 hours, respectively (P = .002). No statistical consensus was reached for the financial reimbursement patients desired for their time.

The results of our study have shown that almost all laparoscopic bariatric surgery patients are willing to participate in obesity-related research, including invasive procedures, when it coincides with their surgery. Enthusiasm decreased with the increasing time commitment in the pre- and postoperative period but remained for most patients.