Identifying factors for patient selection to improve health resource utilisation in bariatric surgery within the public health system.

This thesis centres around the bariatric surgical population with the intention of identifying factors which can improve patient selection for taxpayer funded bariatric surgery to ameliorate health resource utilisation. Through a series of studies, this thesis provides a better understanding of the modifiable and non-modifiable patient, clinical and health system factors which impact health resource consumption in bariatric surgery. In so doing a balance can be achieved to improve access to bariatric surgery and decrease the burden of obesity on health care systems.