title: The clinical and economic burden of obesity in a managed care setting.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Policy Analysis, Inc. (PAI), Brookline, MA 02445, USA. goster@pai2.com
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oster
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Edelsberg
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: O'Sullivan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: 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