Increasing support group attendance for metabolic and bariatric surgery patients with online groups

Support group attendance for patients undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery has been shown to improve outcomes. Finding meaningful ways to engage as many patients as possible with these group sessions is important. Attendance records of 120 in-person and 48 virtual support groups that took place over 6-years were reviewed and compared from a metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) program in the USA. No significant difference in attendance for in-person groups or the first year of virtual support groups was found. The second consecutive year of virtual support groups were found to have a significant increase in patient attendance when compared to in-person groups and also the first year of virtual groups. Support groups for MBS patients are valuable experiences. Offering these virtually can help increase the number of patients that attend groups after the first year.