5-year follow-up at an accredited community bariatric practice: what is an acceptable follow-up rate?

Adequate long-term follow-up after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) remains a challenge.

To evaluate if type of insurance correlated with differences in the 5-year follow-up and outcomes of a cohort of bariatric surgery patients in a community-based accredited center.

Accredited private practice bariatric center in the United States.

We studied bariatric surgery patients that underwent MBS in 2015 by a single surgeon in an accredited, community practice. Electronic medical records were utilized to evaluate 5-year follow-up and outcomes data. This included demographics, type of insurance, number of follow-up visits, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), postbariatric procedures, and postbariatric emergency department (ED) utilization.

There were 89 patients. The follow-up rate decreased over time, with 1% of patients at 5 years. There was a slightly higher follow-up rate in patients with commercial versus public insurance. The average BMI of patients that followed up decreased by 13.6 kg/m² over the first postoperative year. The average number of ED visits was 1.46 (standard deviation: 2.38) overall; however, of the 89 total patients, 35 patients (39.3%) had no documented ED visits, with the remaining 61 patients (63.5%) ranging from 1-15 visits (median = 1).

Overall follow-up rates were low with 4-year follow-up being 14% and 5-year follow-up being <1%. Publicly insured patients had a higher rate of follow-up. Despite low follow-up rates with the actual bariatric surgery practice, 63.5% of patients had an ED visit during the follow-up period.