TOPLINE

Transitioning patients with obesity from an in-person preoperative bariatric education seminar to a fully virtual format was estimated to save about 1.79 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent emissions between January and December 2024. More than 90% of patients rated the virtual session just as good as or better than the in-person session.

METHODOLOGY

• Patients preparing for bariatric surgery often travel long distances to attend mandatory in-person preoperative education seminars, which creates access barriers and adds avoidable greenhouse gas emissions; offering these seminars virtually can reduce travel, lower emissions, and keep care accessible and convenient.
• Researchers surveyed 183 patients preparing for bariatric surgery (mean age, 41.3 years; 83.6% women; mean BMI, 47.3) who attended a standard virtual preoperative education seminar between January and December 2024.
• After the educational session, patients were directed to an online survey link; the survey itself was split into three parts, covering satisfaction with the virtual seminar, expected travel behavior for a hypothetical in-person alternative, and basic sociodemographic details.
• Driving distances from patients’ postal codes to the seminar location were calculated, and a transport emissions model was applied — incorporating patients’ reported transportation preferences — to estimate avoided greenhouse gas emissions.
• A subgroup of 102 patients who had previously attended an in-person consultation provided firsthand comparisons of educational quality between the virtual and in-person formats across five thematic areas related to obesity surgery.

TAKEAWAY

• The average one-way travel distance was 33.08 km; 83.6% of patients indicated they would have traveled by private vehicle or motorcycle, predominantly using combustion engine cars.
• The hypothetical total travel distance of 12,107 km, together with reported transport modes, was estimated to produce approximately 1.792 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents, 1.914 kg of nitrogen oxides, and 0.13 kg of particulate matter.
• When offered a format choice, 6.6% of patients preferred in-person only, 31.1% considered both formats acceptable, and 62.3% favored online only; 25% (n = 46) reported they would have skipped a mandatory in-person session, indicating that the virtual format may have bridged an attendance gap.
• Among the 102 patients who had attended both formats, an average of 40.6% rated online explanations as better across five thematic areas, 15.9% preferred in‑person explanations, and 43.5% found both formats equally effective.

IN PRACTICE

“Digital delivery may offer a ‘safe space’ that reduces social anxiety, allowing patients to process risk-related information more effectively than in traditional settings. These findings suggest that virtual education may be perceived as at least equivalent to in-person education for key informational domains,” the study authors wrote.

SOURCE

The study was led by Justus Schmid, Helios St. Elisabeth Hospital Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany. It was published online in Obesity Surgery.

LIMITATIONS

Because travel choices were hypothetical rather than observed, the actual emissions avoided may differ. The analysis covered only preoperative education. Satisfaction was measured immediately after the online seminar.

DISCLOSURES

Open Access funding was enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. The authors declared having no competing interests.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.