Patient Preferences for Bariatric Surgery in Saudi Arabia

Background: Bariatric surgery has emerged as a powerful tool against obesity worldwide. Patient preferences and decision-making are affected by multiple factors that impact this choice. This study aimed to explore the knowledge among the Saudi population and determine the factors that influence decision-making plans. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Saudi population from different geographical areas from August 2019 to July 2020 at Taif University. A questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and factors that influenced a patient to seek bariatric surgery. Results: There were 1,300 participants in this study, and 54.9% of our participants were diagnosed as obese or morbidly obese. The participants believed that bariatric surgery would help with weight loss (91%) and help to reduce or cure diabetes (81%). Sleeve gastrectomy was the most frequently chosen surgery, and it resulted in more weight loss than other bariatric surgeries. Males chose more weight loss, while females chose good appearance and body fitness as a desirable outcome after surgery, which was a significant difference. Conclusion: Most patients were obese or morbidly obese. More patients chose sleeve gastrectomy as the most desirable surgery because it could result in more weight loss even in the long-term and cure or reduce diabetes, and it had the shortest recovery time. This choice correlated with the female gender, geographical area, and the patient's chronic disease. Females wanted an excellent appearance and body fitness, whereas males desired more postoperative weight loss.