Overweight and obesity on the island of Ireland: an estimation of costs

Abstract

ObjectivesThe increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity worldwide continues to compromise population health and creates a wider societal cost in terms of productivity loss and premature mortality. Despite extensive international literature on the cost of overweight and obesity, findings are inconsistent between Europe and the USA, and particularly within Europe. Studies vary on issues of focus, specific costs and methods. This study aims to estimate the healthcare and productivity costs of overweight and obesity for the island of Ireland in 2009, using both top-down and bottom-up approaches.MethodsCosts were estimated across four categories: healthcare utilisation, drug costs, work absenteeism and premature mortality. Healthcare costs were estimated using Population Attributable Fractions (PAFs). PAFs were applied to national cost data for hospital care and drug prescribing. PAFs were also applied to social welfare and national mortality data to estimate productivity costs due to absenteeism and premature mortality.ResultsThe healthcare costs of overweight and obesity in 2009 were estimated at €437 million for the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and €127.41 million for NI. Productivity loss due to overweight and obesity was up to €865 million for ROI and €362 million for NI. The main drivers of healthcare costs are cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, colon cancer, stroke and gallbladder disease. In terms of absenteeism, low back pain is the main driver in both jurisdictions, and for productivity loss due to premature mortality the primary driver of cost is coronary heart disease.ConclusionsThe costs are substantial, and urgent public health action is required in Ireland to address the problem of increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, which if left unchecked will lead to unsustainable cost escalation within the health service and unacceptable societal costs.

Time Trends in the Incidence and Mortality of Ovarian Cancer in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Israel, 1994–2013

“…39,40 In NI, measured obesity rates in adults also increased with time, from less than 10% in women aged 16 to 64 years in 1992 41 to 22% in 2013. 42 Corresponding rates in Israel were 13% in 2000 and 16% in 2013. 43 Genetic factors such as BRCA1/2 mutations increase the risk of ovarian cancer (especially BRCA2).…”

Friction Cost Estimates of Productivity Costs in Cost-of-Illness Studies in Comparison with Human Capital Estimates: A Review

“…The three studies with HCA/FCA ratios <2 all measured short-term sick leave [70–72]. Other studies that only assessed short-term sick leave likewise typically reported modest HCA/FCA cost ratios [73]. Conversely, all nine studies that reported ratios ≥19 included productivity costs from either premature mortality or long-term disability in the HCA estimates.…”

“…Of the six studies in Table 1 that addressed the burden of cancers, the four that included mortality costs had HCA/FCA ratios that were mostly between 24 and 48 [31, 33, 74, 75], whereas the two studies that only considered morbidity costs had ratios of 2.6 and 3.9 [76, 77]. The fact that four studies that included mortality costs reported HCA costs less than 10-fold higher than FCA estimates likely reflects at least in part the focus of those studies on conditions or exposures with low mortality rates among working-age adults, specifically obesity [73, 78, 79], injuries [80], and smoking [81]. …”

Obesity, diet quality and absenteeism in a working population

“…In 2011 it was reported that absenteeism due to illness was costing Irish businesses €1·5 billion per year (€818 per employee per year) ( 4 ) . Furthermore, productivity loss due to overweight and obesity was estimated at €865 million in 2009 in Ireland, with absenteeism identified as the main driver ( 5 ) . In an effort to curtail this cost escalation, workplace health promotion has moved to the forefront of organisational agendas.…”