Bariatric surgery patients are recommended to take life-long supplementation to avoid vitamin deficiencies. Poor postoperative patient follow-up makes assessing vitamin usage challenging. This could potentially be improved using social media. This study aimed to survey postoperative bariatric patients to assess vitamin usage and the feasibility of using social media for study recruitment.
Methods:
A survey was distributed to 10 Facebook bariatric support groups. Data collected included vitamins used, frequency of use, cost, and deficiencies. Descriptive data were pooled and chi-square tests were used to determine how results varied with time since surgery.
Results:
Five hundred and seventy-five respondents (88.7%) reported taking vitamins, most often multivitamins (569, 98.9%) and/or calcium with vitamin D (474, 82.4%), with 66.9–73.3% reporting daily use. Adherence was lower in respondents further from their surgery. The majority of participants reported taking five or more supplements daily.
Conclusions:
Recruitment yielded a population representative of a typical bariatric practice. This evaluation reiterates poor adherence to daily vitamin regimens that diminishes with time elapsed since surgery. Future interventions should aim to decrease pill burden and improve adherence. Social media presents an innovative way to reach bariatric patients, which may present new avenues for continuity of care and research.
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