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Graham A. Colditz, DrPH, MD, Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, 617-525-2754, graham.colditz@channing.harvard.edu
The health impact of obesity across many diseases can be summarized by the economic burden of disease. This serves as a summary measure of disease burden in dollars expended rather than the number of health conditions treated, as conditions may have differing levels of severity, disability, etc. Prevalence based cost estimates have been the most common approach used for obesity. These summarize the direct costs incurred in the health care system in a given year typically for the entire USA. An epidemiologic approach is used to estimate the proportion of each condition that is attributable to, or caused by, obesity. This proportion is multiplied by the national estimate of the number of cases of the condition. This approach assumes that if obesity were not present, then the number of people in the population with health conditions attributed to obesity would likewise not be present and the costs of care would not be incurred. Estimates for the US indicate that 5 to 7% of total annual medical expenditures are due to obesity. The prevalence-based approach does not give measures of potential benefits by treating or reducing obesity in a population already including obese persons. Such approaches require lifetime cost of illness studies and assumptions regarding the change in risk of disease according to the duration of time elapsed since weight reduction.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Obesity, Economic Analysis
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.