The article below summarizes a roundtable discussion of a study published in this issue of the Journal in light of its methodology, relevance to practice, and implications for future research. Article discussed:
Josefsson A, Blomberg M, Bladh M, Frederiksen SG, Sydsjö G. Bariatric surgery in a national cohort of women: sociodemographics and obstetric outcomes. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2011;205:206.e1-8.
The full discussion appears at www.AJOG.org , pages e1-2 .
Discussion Questions
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What were the aims of the study?
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What was the authors’ overall approach?
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What information was included in the tables?
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Did this study have particular strengths or weaknesses?
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Where should we go from here?
Obesity is a worldwide epidemic: the World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million adults are obese, and unfortunately, the rate seems to be rising. The consequences of having a body mass index of 30 or more—the official definition of obesity—include diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Much data also indicate adverse pregnancy-related events among obese women; they have higher rates of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and infants with birth defects than women who are not obese. Traditional weight-loss methods, such as dieting—with or without adjunctive medications—are not as effective as we would hope, generally providing poor long-term weight-loss results.
See related article, page 206