Patient awareness about the indications and complications of sleeve gastrectomy

OBJECTIVES: To assess patients' awareness of the indications and complications of sleeve gastrectomy in King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: The cross-sectional study conducted from December 2017 to May 2018 in KKUH, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia included all patients aged 18 years and older. Data collection was conducted through self-administered questionnaires. Chi-square test was performed to determine the significant differences between variables. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULT: Of 480 participants, 247 (51.5%) of them were male. The educational level of most was bachelor's degree (253; 52.7%). Most of the participants (326; 67.9%) are not aware about BMI. However, 80 (16.7%) participants knew the true answer to obese BMI. Of the total participants, 283 (59.0%) did not knew about sleeve gastrectomy indications; however, 311 (64.8%) of the participants had heard about the complications of sleeve gastrectomy. All these results are correlated with the educational level of the participants. CONCLUSION: Our study shows a lack of awareness of sleeve gastrectomy indications and complications among study population. We need to increase public awareness about sleeve gastrectomy indications and complication by proper scientific health education in the community.