David E. Arterburn, MD, MPH

David Arterburn

“It's critical that we find cost-effective ways to treat obesity while reducing weight bias and stigma. My research examines the long-term effects of behavioral, pharmaceutical, and surgical treatments and promotes shared decision-making between patients and their providers.” 

David Arterburn, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Physician, Washington Permanente Medical Group, Internal Medicine

Biography

David Arterburn, MD, MPH, is a general internist and health services researcher who focuses on finding safe, effective, and non-stigmatizing ways to treat obesity. As an international leader in obesity research, his goal is to help individuals and families make treatment decisions that align with their values while sustaining their health over the long haul.

Dr. Arterburn's research portfolio includes studies of the impact of neighborhood environments on obesity, mindfulness-based interventions for weight loss, obesity pharmacotherapy, the long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery, and implementation of shared decision making tools and processes. He recently led the PCORnet Bariatric Study, a two-year, $4.5 million study comparing the health benefits and safety associated with the main types of bariatric surgery in 41 health systems in the United States. Funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the study’s results give patients and their health care providers the information they need to decide which type of surgery is best for them. In July 2019, PCORI awarded Dr. Arterburn an additional $2.1 million to incorporate these new results into shared decision making at Kaiser Permanente Washington and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Over the past decade, Dr. Arterburn has collaborated with Kaiser Permanente Washington's specialty leadership to implement and evaluate shared decision making with patient decision aids to support elective surgical care. The approach has shown great promise for improving the quality of health care while simultaneously lowering the costs of care in some populations.

Dr. Arterburn collaborates extensively in his research and has federally-funded projects related to obesity and bariatric surgery with investigators at University of Washington (UW), Duke University, Harvard, University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan, Wake Forest, and the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Arterburn joined Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in 2006. In recognition of his contributions to science, he has been named an honorary Fellow of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (FASMBS) and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) and The Obesity Society (FTOS). Dr. Arterburn is past chair of the Adult Obesity Measurement Advisory Panel sponsored by the National Committee on Quality Assurance, founding chair of the Obesity Society's Health Services Research Section, and past chair of the Health Care Systems Research Network's Obesity Special Interest Group. In 2013 he co-chaired the National Institutes of Health Symposium on the Long-Term Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery. He is also an affiliate professor in the UW Department of Medicine.

RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE

Recent publications

Basu A, Barton LJ, Fischer H, Reynolds K, Arterburn DE, Barthold D, Courcoulas A, Crawford CL, Fedorka PN, Kim BB, Mun EC, Murali SB, Zane RE, Coleman KJ. Comparative effectiveness of gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy on predicted 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease 5 years after surgery. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2022 Mar 9:S1550-7289(22)00098-3. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2022.02.021, [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Chhabra KR, Telem DA, Chao GF, Arterburn DE, Yang J, Thumma JR, Ryan AM, Blumental B, Dimick JB. Comparative safety of sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass: an instrumental variables approach. Ann Surg. 2022 Mar 1;275(3):539-545. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004297. PubMed

Chao GF, Yang J, Peahl AF, Thumma JR, Dimick JB, Arterburn DE, Telem DA. Comparative effectiveness of sleeve gastrectomy vs Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in patients giving birth after bariatric surgery: reinterventions and obstetric outcomes. Surg Endosc. 2022 Jan 31. doi: 10.1007/s00464-022-09063-7. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Coughlin JW, Nauman E, Wellman R, Coley RY, McTigue KM, Coleman KJ, Jones DB, Lewis K, Tobin JN, Wee CC, Fitzpatrick SL, Desai JR, Murali S, Morrow EH, Rogers AM, Wood GC, Schlundt DG, Apovian CM, Duke MC, McClay JC, Soans R, Nemr R, Williams N, Courcoulas A, Holmes JH, Anau J, Toh S, Sturtevant JL, Horgan CE, Cook AJ, Arterburn DE; PCORnet Bariatric Study Collaborative. Preoperative depression status and 5 year metabolic and bariatric surgery outcomes in the PCORNET bariatric study cohort. Ann Surg. 2023 Apr 1;277(4):637-646. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005364. Epub 2022 Jan 19. PubMed

Howard R, Chao GF, Yang J, Thumma JR, Arterburn DE, Telem DA, Dimick JB. Medication use for obesity-related comorbidities after sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass. JAMA Surg. 2022 Mar 1;157(3):248-256. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2021.6898. PubMed

 

News

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Filling evidence gaps on obesity treatment

Several new grants will fund research on effectiveness, safety, and equitable use of anti-obesity medications.

Research

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Neighborhood density connected to changes in body mass index for children

Study uses geographic data to track change over time.

Research

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Study finds bariatric surgery linked to substantially lower risk of blood clots long-term

Largest study to date helps patients weigh risks and benefits of surgery.

News

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Seattle's Sweetened Beverage Tax linked to improved public health outcomes

An evaluation with KPWHRI researchers looked at the impacts of the tax so far.