Table 1.

Suggestions for Addressing Disparities in Bariatric Surgery

Reported disparities in the literature	Suggestions for future studies/knowledge gap
Rates of bariatric surgery are disproportionately low in African American and Latino qualifying patients relative to white patients.17–19,28,33,35	Systematic study to determine the particular multifactorial reasons for the low rates of referral for bariatric surgery.
Eligible ethnic minority patients are not consistently being referred for bariatric surgery by primary care providers.34	Investigate the reasons for low referral rates by conducting a study within offices of primary providers who work with underserved and ethnically/racially diverse populations.
African Americans and Latinos have fewer negative associations with overweight and obese, relative to whites.63–65	Design educational and informational tools for providers to encourage culturally sensitive communications with patients who may be eligible for bariatric surgery.
Studies suggest a lower percentage of excess weight loss after bariatric surgery in Latinos and African Americans compared to whites.17,20,22,23,25,30,32,50	Translational research studies should be conducted, which may contribute to understanding the physiological, genetic, sociological, and psychological factors that may be related to lower weight loss in ethnic minorities.
There is some evidence to suggest that African American and Latino patients demonstrate lower rates of improvement of medical comorbidities following bariatric surgery, relative to white patients.32,77	As above, translational research studies should be conducted to investigate the mechanisms that may underlie the multiple factors contributing to disparities in comorbid medical conditions postbariatric surgery.