Comparative analysis of short-term outcomes after bariatric surgery between two disparate populations.

Background: Risk adjustment is a critically important aspect of outcomes research. Racial, geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic differences are nonclinical parameters that can affect clinical outcomes measurement after gastric bypass surgery.

Methods: A single surgeon's experience with 217 consecutive laparoscopic gastric bypass patients in private practice in Southern California was compared with the same surgeon's experience with 124 consecutive patients in an academic institution in Philadelphia.