Disparities in Access to Bariatric Surgery in North Carolina

This study sought to identify factors that contribute to disparities in access to bariatric surgery in North Carolina (NC).

Using the rate of bariatric surgery in the county with the best health outcome as the reference, we calculated the Surgical Equity Index (SEI) in the remaining counties in NC.

Approximately 2.95 million individuals (29%) were obese in NC. There were 992 (.5%) bariatric procedures performed on a population of 194 209 individuals with obesity in the Reference County (RC). The mean SEI for bariatric surgery in NC was .47 (SD .17, range .15-.95). A statistically significant difference was observed in 89 counties. Univariable analyses identified the following variables to be significantly associated with the SEI: percent of population living in rural areas (% rural) (relative rate change in SEI [RR] = .994, 95% CI .92-.997; <.0001), median household income (RR = 1.0, 95% CI = 1.0-1.0; P = .0002), prevalence of diabetes (RR = .947, 95% CI .917-.977; .0006), the primary care physician ratio (RR = .995, 95% CI .991-.998; P = .006), and percent uninsured adults (RR = .955, 95% CI .927-.985; P = .003). By multivariable hierarchical regression analysis, only the % rural remained statistically associated with a low SEI (RR = .995 per 1% increase in % rural, 95% CI = .992, .998; P = .0002).

The percent rural is the most significant predictor of disparities in access to bariatric surgery. For every 1% increase in % rural, the rate of surgery decreased by .5%. Understanding the characteristics of rurality that are barriers to access is crucial to mitigate disparities in bariatric surgical access in NC.