The clinical and economic burden of obesity in a managed care setting.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the clinical and economic burden of obesity in a managed care setting.


METHODS
Prevalence-based cost-of-illness evaluation using modeling techniques and data from secondary sources.


METHODS
The health and economic burden of obesity was estimated for a hypothetical health plan with 1 million members between the ages of 35 and 84 years, based on projections of the numbers of cases of 8 diseases for which obesity is an established risk factor (coronary heart disease, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, gallbladder disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis of the knee, and endometrial cancer), obesity-attributable "etiologic fractions," and estimates of associated medical care costs. Our analysis was based on data from a variety of secondary sources, including a large managed care plan in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.


RESULTS
In a population of 1 million persons aged 35 to 84 years, it was estimated that obesity would account for approximately 132,900 cases of hypertension (45% of all cases), 58,500 cases of type 2 diabetes (85%), 51,500 cases of hypercholesterolemia (18%), and 16,500 cases of coronary heart disease (35%). Healthcare costs attributable to obesity were estimated to total $345.9 million annually (or 41% of the total for the 8 diseases of interest).


CONCLUSIONS
The clinical and economic burden of obesity in a managed care setting is substantial.
Oster
G
G
Policy Analysis, Inc. (PAI), Brookline, MA 02445, USA. goster@pai2.com
Edelsberg
J
J
O'Sullivan
A K
AK
Thompson
D
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors