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Background. Bariatric surgery programs are recognized as the best alternative for patients with severe obesity. Many studies conclude that bariatric surgery programs that include these pre- and postoperative consultations (PPC) by the multidisciplinary team have better overall outcome. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate factors that affect PPC during a bariatric surgery program in Mexico and assess the possible impact on the patients’ post-operative course. Materials and methods. In accordance with the the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders guidelines, all patients included were between 18 and 65 age when bariatric surgery was performed. Preoperative assessment of patient eligibility for bariatric surgery included consultation with the main surgeon, a dietician, an internist, and a psychologist. If non-eligible cases were detected, these issues were addressed and fully treated before surgery was considered. Results. A total of 110 patients were included in this study. Eighty-one (74 %) patients were women and 29 (26 %) were men. We observed that women had significantly more consultation attendance than men (54.3 % versus 24.1 %, p = 0.005). Patients with higher initial BMI had significantly more consultation attendance than those with lower BMI (42.9 kg/m2 versus 38.6 kg/m2, p = 0.007). When consultation attendance was evaluated according to occupation, teaching workers had significantly (p = 0.003) more consultation attendance (71.4 %) while the students group had less consultation attendance (0). Patients who had higher percentage of excess of weight loss (EWL) had significantly more general, medical, nutritional and psychological consultation attendance than those with lower percentage of EWL (p = 0.04, p = 0.032, p = 0.039 and p < 0.001). Conclusions. Consultation attendance with the multidisciplinary team is associated with better outcomes after bariatric surgery. “Nonattending” patients are at least partly responsible for any suboptimal results observed. Although this is certainly a factor for some patients, many other non-dependent reasons, such as cultural, social, economic or motivational reasons can also affect the loss of consultations in other patients.

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