Assessment of electronic patient education materials for adolescent bariatric surgery candidates: An environment scan

Yolanda N Wang; Alexandra J Heidl; Patricia M Angeles; Biagina-Carla Farnesi; Angela S Alberga; Tamara R Cohen

doi:10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100143

Assessment of electronic patient education materials for adolescent bariatric surgery candidates: An environment scan

PEC Innov. 2023 Feb 24:2:100143. doi: 10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100143. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Yolanda N Wang¹, Alexandra J Heidl², Patricia M Angeles¹, Biagina-Carla Farnesi³, Angela S Alberga^{3

4

5}, Tamara R Cohen^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Land and Food Systems, Food Nutrition and Health, The University of British Columbia, 2205 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
² School of Human Nutrition, McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada.
³ Center of Excellence in Adolescent Severe Obesity, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Center, 1001 Boulevard Décarie, Montréal, QC, Canada.
⁴ Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Applied Physiology, Concordia University, 1455 Boulevard de Maisonneuve, Montréal, QC, Canada.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 3605 Rue de la Montagne, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁶ BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Healthy Starts, 938 West 28 Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Abstract

Objective: Adolescents who opt for metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) will use the internet to learn about the procedure. The objective of this study is to assess the suitability of electronic patient education materials (ePEM) of North American centers that perform adolescent bariatric surgery.

Methods: Canadian and American bariatric centers that perform adolescent MBS were identified from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program and Google web-based searches. Suitability of ePEM for the adolescent readership was evaluated using the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM).

Results: Sixty-five centers were evaluated from June to July 2020 with 41% citing adolescent specific material. Six percent of the ePEM were evaluated as 'not suitable', 69% were evaluated as 'adequate', and 25% were evaluated as 'superior'.

Conclusion: Adequate ePEM scoring was obtained, but centers had little resources tailored to adolescent patients. Further research is needed to evaluate all the resources provided to adolescents (i.e., resources provided by the health team) to ensure the tools are appropriate for the adolescent readership.

Innovation: This environmental scan provided insights to ePEM available for adolescents considering MBS.

Keywords: Adolescents; Bariatric surgery; Electronic education materials; Obesity; Patient Education Materials; Severe obesity.