Priority Index for Bariatric Surgery Based on a New Classification of Severity in Obesity.

Abstract

This study aimed to propose and evaluate a severity rating in obesity (SERO) based on a new priority index for bariatric surgery (PIBS). We compared the waiting time for surgery (WTS) in a simulated list of 200 patients diagnosed, classified, and hypothetically submitted to bariatric surgery using two prioritization criteria: date of inclusion in the list and PIBS. Our simulations show that patients spent an average of 350.44 days waiting for surgery while in the first case, when PIBS was adopted as the prioritization criterion, the WTS varied according to the severity of each patient's condition so more severe cases waited an average of 82.56 days, i.e., up to 75.55% less time considering statistical significance in the differences (p < 0.05). Therefore, the proposed prioritization model proved effective, fair, and reproducible and can be used to manage waiting lists for bariatric surgery.