The effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on weight loss (WL) after bariatric surgery (BS) remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between SES and WL at least 12 months after BS. This study included 53 observational studies (retrieved from databases in October 2021 and updated in February 2022) involving adults who underwent any type of BS; SES data and data regarding outcomes of weight loss were also retrieved. Our results revealed that white individuals had a higher percentage of excess WL than blacks (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.25-10.99, heterogeneity index [I2] = 44.87% and 95% CI: 8.08-13.59, I2 = 0%, respectively; both p < 0.01) after 12 and 24 months of BS. In conclusion, only race/ethnicity was associated with WL after BS.
Keywords: Bariatric surgery; Socioeconomic factors; Weight loss.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.