title: Healthcare usage and economic impact of non-treated obesity in Italy: findings from a retrospective administrative and clinical database analysis.
abstract: Investigate the prevalence of obesity in Italy and examine its resource consumption and economic impact on the Italian national healthcare system (NHS).
  
  
  
  Retrospective, observational and real-life study.
  
  
  
  Data from three health units from Northern (Bergamo, Lombardy), Central (Grosseto, Tuscany) and Southern (Naples, Campania) Italy.
  
  
  
  All patients aged ≥18 years with at least one recorded body mass index (BMI) measurement between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2012 were included.
  
  
  
  Information retrieved from the databases included primary care data, medical prescriptions, specialist consultations and hospital discharge records from 2009-2013. Costs associated with these data were also calculated. Data are presented for two time periods (1 year after BMI measurement and study end).
  
  
  
  Primary-to estimate health resources consumption and the associated economic impact on the Italian NHS. Secondary-the prevalence and characteristics of subjects by BMI category.
  
  
  
  20 159 adult subjects with at least one documented BMI measurement. Subjects with BMI ≥30 kg/m2were defined as obese. The prevalence of obesity was 22.2% (N=4471) and increased with age. At the 1-year observation period, obese subjects who did not receive treatment for their obesity experienced longer durations of hospitalisation (median length: 5 days vs 3 days), used more prescription drugs (75.0% vs 57.7%), required more specialised outpatient healthcare (mean number: 5.3 vs 4.4) and were associated with greater costs, primarily owing to prescription drugs and hospital admissions (mean annual cost per year per patient: €460.6 vs €288.0 for drug prescriptions, €422.7 vs € 279.2 for hospitalisations and €283.2 vs €251.7 for outpatient care), compared with normal weight subjects. Similar findings were observed for the period up to data cut-off (mean follow-up of 2.7 years).
  
  
  
  Untreated obesity has a significant economic impact on the Italian healthcare system, highlighting the need to raise awareness and proactively treat obese subjects.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia, Sezione di Endocrinologia, Università Federico II di Napoli, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colao
authors.affiliation: UO Chirurgia Generale, Metabolica e d'Urgenza Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lucchese
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, and Obesity Centre, University Hospital Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Adamo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia, Sezione di Endocrinologia, Università Federico II di Napoli, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Savastano
authors.affiliation: UO Chirurgia Generale, Metabolica e d'Urgenza Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Facchiano
authors.affiliation: CliCon Srl, Health, Economics and Outcomes Research, Ravenna, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Veronesi
authors.affiliation: CliCon Srl, Health, Economics and Outcomes Research, Ravenna, Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Blini
authors.affiliation: CliCon Srl, Health, Economics and Outcomes Research, Ravenna, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Degli Esposti
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, and Obesity Centre, University Hospital Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9634-1501
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sbraccia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016208:Databases, Factual; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body mass index; Healthcare resource consumption; Obesity; Real-life study; Retrospective