title: [Influence of obesity on health care costs and absenteeism among employees of a mining company].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The health associated costs of obesity can represent between 2% and 9% of the total health costs of a given country.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of obesity on health care costs and absenteeism in a cohort of mine workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study of 4.673 men, employees of a mining company, aged 49 +/- 7 years that were followed for 24 +/- 11 months. Total health care cost and days of sick leave were recordedfor each individual. The association between obesity and these variables was analyzed by logistic regression adjusting for co-morbidities, age and other variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean annual health care costs for obese workers were 17% higher (p <0.001) compared to workers with normal weight and 58% higher (p <0.001) for workers with severe and morbid obesity. Mean annual days of sick leave increased by 25%o in the obese (p =0.002) and by 57%o in subjects with severe and morbid obesity (p <0.001). For health care costs the most significant predictors were: presence of diabetes mellitus (Odds ratio (OR) 6.21, 95%o confidence intervals (95% CI) 4.9 to 7.9), hypertension (OR 3-99; 95% CI3-4 to 4.6) and severe and morbid obesity (OR 2.55, 95%o CI 1.9 to 3-4). For absenteeism the most significant predictors were: presence of diabetes mellitus (OR 1.58, 95%> CI 1.2 to 2.0), hypertension (OR 1,34, 95%> CI 1.2 to 1.6) and severe and morbid obesity (OR 1.50, 95%o CI 1.1 to 2.1).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity increases significantly health care costs and absenteeism.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrición, Diabetes y Metabolismo, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. zarate.aldo@gmail.com
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zarate
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crestto
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maiz
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ravest
authors.forename: María Inés
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Pino
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valdivia
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Villarroel
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008906:Mining / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000191:economics; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies