Getting Off on the Right Foot: The Many Roles of the Psychosocial Evaluation in the Bariatric Surgery Practice

Abstract

A thorough and specialized pre-operative psychosocial assessment is an important part of a comprehensive bariatric treatment protocol. Over time, the presurgical psychosocial evaluation has evolved from a cut-and-dried process of recommending whether a patient should or should not undergo surgery to a more nuanced and multifaceted process that serves multiple functions. In this article, we review the many ways in which the pre-operative psychosocial evaluation can enhance patient outcomes and adjustment and even the functioning of the interdisciplinary bariatric surgery team.

Keywords: assessment; outcome; psychosocial; treatment; weight loss surgery.