Table 1.

Comparison of publicly funded Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and private adjustable gastric banding providers

Variable	AGB	RYGB	p value
No. clinics	12	18
No. surgeons	24	35
Out-of-pocket cost, median (range) Can$	16 000 (13 160–18 375)	0§
Financing available, no. (%) of institutions		—
Direct	2/12 (17)
Via third party	6/12 (50)
Total	8/12 (67)
Wait time, median (IQR) [range] mo	1 (1.0–1.5) [0.5–2.5]	18 (13–36) [9–60]	< 0.001
Surgeries performed at location with critical care, no. (%)
All	4/12 (33)	18/18 (100)
High-risk only	3/12 (25)
None	5/12 (42)
Surgeon experience, mean (SD) yr
Post-residency/certification	n = 18 14.6	n = 11 14.0	0.85
Post-MD	n = 20 22.7 (11.4)	n = 20 19.4 (9.2)	0.32
Multidisciplinary preoperative visits, mean (SD) no.			0.045
Total	2.7 (1.6)	4.3 (2.4)
Surgeon	1.0 (0.0)	1.2 (0.4)
Dietician	0.4 (0.5)	0.8 (0.4)
Wellness coordinator*	0.6 (0.5)	0.6 (1.0)
Psychologist	0.3 (0.5)	0.3 (0.5)
Anesthesiologist	0.1 (0.3)	0.1 (0.3)
Internist†	0.1 (0.3)	0.6 (0.6)
Exercise physiotherapist	0.0 (0.0)	0.1 (0.3)
Education class	0.2 (0.4)	0.7 (1.2)
Multidisciplinary postoperative visits in first year, mean (SD) no.‡			0.28
Total	3.7 (1.6)¶	4.3 (1.6)
Surgeon	2.3 (0.7)	2.1 (0.9)
Dietician	0.6 (0.8)	1.1 (1.0)
Wellness coordinator*	0.8 (0.8)	0.4 (0.6)
Internist†	0.0 (0.0)	0.8 (0.9)
Accept out of province, no. (%)	11/12 (92)	7/18 (39)

AGB = adjustable gastric banding; IQR = interquartile range; RYGB = Roux-en-Y gastric bypass; SD = standard deviation.

^*Wellness coordinator also includes registered nurse or social worker.

^†Internist includes general internist or endocrinologist.

^‡The duration of the postoperative visits was not determined.

^§The cost of RYGB to the public system was not estimated in this study.

^¶Total includes planned band adjustments but not unplanned adjustments.