Authors: Henrickson, Heather¹; Ashton, Kathleen²; Windover, Amy²; Heinberg, Leslie³

Source: Obesity Surgery, Volume 19, Number 2, February 2009 , pp. 211-216(6)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

Older adults are increasing in weight along with the rest of the United States population. Likewise, their rates of bariatric surgery have been on the rise with changes in insurance coverage, evidence of the safety of surgery, and importance of quality of life during older age. Unfortunately, limited research has addressed the unique experiences of older adults and there are no specific guidelines that provide an effective strategy for presurgical psychological evaluation of this group. Therefore, this review aims to address considerations for psychological evaluation of older adults by adapting the current guidelines available, within the framework of a “patient-centered” approach that emphasizes individual needs. Considerations reviewed include psychosocial (e.g., developmental stage, quality of life, level of stress, and coping ability) and cognitive concerns (e.g., capacity to give informed consent, realistic expectations, and adherence to permanent lifestyle change).

Keywords: Bariatric surgery; Older adults; Psychological evaluation; Psychosocial considerations; Cognitive considerations

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11695-008-9768-4

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue/P57, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA, Email: henrich2@ccf.org 2: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue/P57, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA 3: Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

Publication date: 2009-02-01

More about this publication?

• Information for Authors
• Terms & Conditions
• Ordering Journal Subscriptions
• ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Surgery
• By this author: Henrickson, Heather ;  Ashton, Kathleen ;  Windover, Amy ;  Heinberg, Leslie

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers