Abstract
Background: Bariatric surgery has become a popular procedure for treating obesity and its associated complications. However, few studies have examined the motivations of patients who choose this procedure.
Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the reasons for patients deciding to undergo bariatric surgery.
Methods: A total of 114 participants who were planning to have bariatric surgery completed a short questionnaire consisting of seven statements. Patients were asked preoperatively to rank the statements in order from most to least important. Statements described the following motives for seeking bariatric surgery: appearance, medical conditions, physical fitness, health effects, embarrassment, physical limitations, and employment.
Results: Most of the participants were female (67.5%). The median age was 34.5 years and the median body mass index was 44.5 kg/m². Among the participants, 30.7% rated having existing medical conditions as their first motivator, followed by fearing future health effects (37.7%) and physical fitness (28.9%) as their second and third motivators, respectively. Those who selected medical conditions as their first motivator were more likely to be male (40.5%, p< 0.05), to be ≥45 years old (55.6%, p ≤ 0.05), and to have a BMI of 40-50 kg/m² (36.1%, p ≤ 0.05). The influence of appearance was notable, as it was the second most commonly selected first motivator (25.4%) next to medical conditions. Those participants who chose appearance as their first motive were more likely to be female (31.2%, p<0.05) and <30 years old (45.0%, p ≤ 0.05).
Conclusions: Existing health conditions are the main reasons for patients to seek bariatric surgery, followed by concerns about potential development of health issues. Gender and age may also contribute to motives for seeking bariatric surgery.

Key words: patient motivation, bariatric surgery, obesity surgery