ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Success in bariatric surgery is most often evaluated by a sufficient loss of excess weight and an improvement in the medical conditions. The expected increase in quality of life (QoL) after weight loss, however, has not often been systematically analyzed. BAROS (Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System) is a scoring system which, along with easy handling, allows comparisons to be made internationally. METHODS: 386 morbidly obese patients who had undergone bariatric surgery in our hospital were evaluated with BAROS. Five categories- failure, fair, good, very good, excellent- were taken from the scoring system that BAROS offers. This system has three major points: excess weight loss, medical co-morbidities and QoL. Points are subtracted for reoperations and defined complications. The operations performed were silastic ring vertical gastroplasty (72%), adjustable gastric banding (23%), biliopancreatic diversion (3%), vertical banded gastroplasty (1%) and gastric banding of Molina (1%). RESULTS: In 1991 and 1993, we had a fair result in 3% and 10% of the patients. A good score with a mean of 3.6 to 4.1 was reached in 1992, 1994 and 1995. In the last 3 years, 1996 to 1998, the mean score was 5.0 to 5.7, which is a very good result when compared with the scoring key. CONCLUSION: BAROS is a valuable tool to access the QoL of patients who have undergone bariatric surgery.
Subject(s)
Biliopancreatic Diversion , Gastroplasty , Obesity, Morbid/surgery , Quality of Life , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Treatment OutcomeSubject(s)
Health Services Needs and Demand , Health Services Research , Patient Care Planning/organization & administration , Regional Health Planning/organization & administration , Activities of Daily Living , Aged , Cost Control , Humans , Long-Term Care/organization & administration , Quality Control , United StatesABSTRACT
Obtaining appropriate long-term care is a problem common to individuals in need, community service providers, regulatory agencies, and fiscal intermediaries. The fragmented nature of the long-term care system precludes natural linkages among service programs. The Long-Term Care Information System Assessment Process was developed and demonstrated to be a communication link among programs and agencies concerned with long-term care. The use of its common language tools for decision making and program organization leads to the provision of appropriate long-term care, efficient use of resources, and effective community care.
