Wouter Leclercq

Chapter 5 88 patients which can improve adherence to medical advice. 13-14 However, there is a lack of literature regarding the optimal preoperative education and informed consent and the outcomes in young adults undergoing bariatric surgery. Our results show that more attention should be paid to the SIC process in these patients. Further research should focus on the specific needs of young adults, in order to optimize the informed consent process for bariatric surgery and thereby allow patients to have more realistic expectations and improve satisfaction. Incorporating questionnaires on patient related outcome measures could provide this kind of information. In addition, further research should be performed regarding the recall of the SIC process. Limitations to this study are the interval between surgery and interview (2.9 ± 1.7 years), which can bias information considering that patients forgot information. 19 In addition, one researcher (CD) did all the interviews and kept notes without audiotaping. All these factors could affect the reliability. 22 This is the first study regarding the preoperative education and informed consent in young adults (aged 18-25 years) undergoing bariatric surgery from a patient’s point of view. This study reveals that there is room for improvement of the SIC process in young adults undergoing bariatric surgery. More dedicated educational material on possible scenarios after bariatric surgery including risks and lifetime consequences should be developed. Preoperative education should focus more on specific age-related problems and social interactions.