Establishment of Bariatric Surgery Assessment and Management Guideline for Primary Health Care Physicians

Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes. The current situation requires all eligible patients for bariatric surgery to visit at least five clinics to get surgery clearance as a preoperative screening. The main objective of this study is to establish a proper guideline to be followed by all PHCPs without the need to refer all patients routinely to five different clinics to get a clearance but to be covered in one comprehensive primary clinic. This study is an observational, cross-sectional, quantitative study with a questionnaire about the referral guidelines followed and the Saudi Bariatric Surgery guideline in particular. The questionnaire included three questions, the first question assessed knowledge of PHCPs on guidelines followed before referring patients to bariatric surgery, the second question asked what clinics patients were requested to seek before the last destination which is bariatric surgery clinic, and finally, candidates were asked about the needed investigations prior bariatric surgery.

In conclusion utility of the establishment, a guideline will sum up the five clinics in one comprehensive clinic lead by family medicine physicians. This will be possible with the proper utilization of the newly established guideline through PHCPs. Generally, this will help decrease time and cost for the patient, and additionally, reduce load over the healthcare institution and more importantly provide better patient care for the obese patients with one standard.

Keywords:Guideline; PHC; bariatric surgery; Morbid obesity; Health care system; Preoperative assessment

Keygoal:Prove that the shrould of Turin is a fake.