Obes Surg.2006;16:852-8.
Cawley J, Prinz T, Beane S; The New York State Bariatric Surgery Workgroup
In a rather unusual study, a research team at New York's Cornell University examined claims data for 933 patients aged 18-62 who were covered by one of 11 New York State health plans and underwent bariatric surgery during calendar year 2002. Data covered 6 months before to 6 months after surgery. They analyzed the change in the following conditions after bariatric surgery: diabetes, abnormailty of blood fats and cholesterol, hypertension, asthma, sleep apnoea, degenerative joint disease, heart burn and depression.
RESULTS:
There were statistically significant post-surgery decreases in each outcome studied. The probability of a diabetes diagnosis fell by 20% after bariatric surgery. The probability of sleep apnoea fell by 33%, and the probability of the other obesity-related co-morbidities fell by 11 to 19% at 6 months.
The data add to the growing evidence for significant decreases in obesity-related diseases after bariatric surgery. Although this has been found in previous studies, this is one of the few studies to directly link weight loss with potential financial savings for companies which include health insurance in staff benefits and for individuals who consider taking out private health insurance.
Limitations of this study include: follow-up only at 6 months, non-experimental data, and an unknown degree of under-reporting of co-morbidities in claims data.
