A survey of primary care physician referral to bariatric surgery in Manitoba: access, perceptions and barriers

There is an important disconnect between surgical programs and primary care physicians (PCP) in the delivery of bariatric care. The objective of this study is to assess PCP knowledge and perception of a provincial bariatric surgery program. A 32-question, IRB approved, survey was developed by bariatric surgery experts and vetted by local PCPs. A single round of paper surveys was administered to 1,000 PCPs between July and September 2015. Continuous variables were assessed by -test and categorical variables by Chi-square test. There were 131 survey responses (13.1%). Half (54.2%) of respondents did not feel equipped to counsel their patients on operative management strategies. PCPs counselled on average 11.6%±17.0% of their obese patients on bariatric surgery. Many respondents (58.3%) thought excess weight loss from gastric bypass was less than 40% and most believed there was less than 50% resolution of diabetes (62.4%), hypertension (72.3%), dyslipidemia (77.8%) and obstructive sleep apnea (60.6%). PCPs who referred patients to the bariatric program (71.8%) were more comfortable counselling their patients on bariatric surgery options (56.8% 17.1%, P