Abstracts / Posters
Attributable Costs of overweight and obesity on UK general prescribing
The International Association for the Study of Obesity. Obesity Reviews. 2006 7 (Suppl 2). p78-79.
University of Glasgow Division of Developmental Medicine, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, UK
Background: Obesity is a recognised burden on prescribing in general practice.
Method: Medical records of 3400 patients stratified for age (18-75 years) and sex were audited at different BMI levels (BMI≥30.0kg/m2 n=1150, BMI 25-<30 kg/m2 n=1100, BMI 20-<25.0 kg/m2 n=1150) to establish total prescribing costs. Initial analysis focused on the ‘top ten drugs’ that account for the highest expenditure in the UK. York Health Economics Consortium extrapolated data to the whole population and related them to actual 2001 UK expenditure. Attributable costs were calculated for overweight and obesity subtracting costs observed at BMI levels in the normal weight (BMI 18.5-<25kg/m2) category.
Results: Total expenditure on the UK ‘top ten’ drugs in 2001 was £1.5 billion. Mean annual prescribing costs per patient increased with BMI. For men costs rose from £8.45 to £63.60 and for women from £7.80 to £27.16, as BMI rose from 20kg/m2 to 40kg/m2. Mean cost per patient increased sharply above BMI of 30kg/m2 for both males and females. Populations in the BMI categories <25kg/m2, 25<30kg/m2 and >30kg/m2 accounted for 26.6%, 36.6% and 36.8% of total prescribing costs respectively. The costs (attributable to overweight and obesity) of prescribing were 11.1% and 22.6% respectively.
Conclusion: These data show that the greatest cost to the NHS is from people at BMI levels of 30-32kg/m2 due to the relative impacts of rising costs and falling population size as BMI rises. The extra costs seen with relatively modest BMI support the need for earlier preventative interventions with the aim of cost avoidance.