Background

Socioeconomic status (SES) is increasingly demonstrated to impact health. Lower SES has been associated with higher rates of readmission and lesser weight loss following bariatric surgery, though studies have not been consistent. The goal of this study was to investigate whether Area Deprivation Index (ADI), a multidimensional evaluation of an area's socioeconomic conditions, is associated with serious adverse events, weight loss, and remission of comorbidities following longitudinal sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).

Methods

This is a retrospective, single-centered study including 312 patients with morbid obesity undergoing LSG at a metropolitan academic hospital over two years. ADI was utilized as a comprehensive indicator of income, education, employment, and housing quality. Outcomes included serious adverse events (SAE), weight-loss at 6-months postoperatively, and remission of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Results

275 patients with Massachusetts zip code had 6-month follow-up with recorded weight. Median ADI National Ranking (ADINatrank) was 42. There was no association between ADINatrank and SAE (p = 0.703). Median weight loss at 6 months was 21% total body weight loss and 46.98 %EBWL, and neither measure was associated with ADINatrank (p = 0.168, p=0.568). Neither remission of GERD (p = 0.478) nor T2DM (p = 0.439) were associated with ADINatrank.

Conclusions

We determined that for our study population, ADI does not impact SAE, weight-loss at 6-months, or remission of T2DM or of GERD following LSG. Adequate outcomes can be achieved despite lower SES. We plan to expand upon the cohort size, and duration of follow-up to assess SES long-term impact.