The Role of Pre-surgery Clinical Communication on Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Outcomes: A Prospective Study

TL;DR

This study shows that good communication between doctors and patients before bariatric surgery improves post-surgery outcomes like weight loss and well-being.

Contribution

The study demonstrates a link between pre-surgery communication quality and specific MBS outcomes, adding to understanding of patient care in bariatric surgery.

Findings

Better communication correlates with greater weight loss and BMI reduction.

Improved communication is linked to better bodily pain and social functioning post-surgery.

Patients with better communication report fewer digestive complaints and more post-surgery support.

Abstract

Research shows that a positive doctor-patient relationship plays an important role in patient outcomes. However, the influence of their communication during the pre-surgery preparatory consultation (PC) for metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) remains unclear. The goal of this study was to inspect the association between patients’ perceptions of doctor-patient communication (DPC) in the PC for MBS and the results of the MBS.

This prospective cross-sectional study included 89 adult patients undergoing MBS at a hospital. Before the surgery, patients’ perspectives regarding DPC were assessed with the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT). One month after the surgery, participants’ levels of well-being were assessed through the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36). Other clinical data were obtained through patients’ electronic records. Data were analyzed with regression models.

In the adjusted models, associations with the quality of doctor-patient communication (p < 0.05) were found for the following outcomes: weight loss, body mass index decrease, and patient well-being regarding bodily pain and social functioning. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were also found for digestive complaints and for patient perception of physician post-surgery support.

DPC in the preparatory consultation has a positive effect on the clinical results of MBS. More studies are necessary for inspection of the generalizability of these findings.

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