New research recommends a focus on health over weight loss as figures show the most obese patients incur £1,871 per year in healthcare costs.
This figure refers to the average annual healthcare cost attributed to each person with class III obesity in 2019. It was divided into £922 of inpatient admissions, £336 of prescriptions, £287 of primary care and £246 of outpatient appointments. The remaining £80 was attributed to emergency department visits.
The study found that this cost had been increasing each year since 2015, when it stood at £1,321. The costs incurred by those in the overweight to class II obese categories also increased, though to a lesser degree.
The gap in healthcare costs between those who were overweight and those with class III obesity therefore rose steadily throughout the study period. In 2015 the gap was 55%, rising to 64% in 2019.
Researchers said that 20% of the included obese individuals in 2019 incurred nearly three quarters of the total healthcare costs. This group were older on average and more likely to present with co-morbidities.
Published in the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism journal, the study analysed health record data from more than 2.7 million individuals.
Changing approaches to obesity treatment
This comes as obesity specialist researchers have called for health services to change their approach to obesity management. The new study recommends that improved quality of life should be the aim of treatment rather than weight loss.
Co-author Carel le Roux said: ‘The new recommendation is to achieve 15% weight loss as a starting point to effectively improve most obesity-related complications.
‘However, while weight loss is a marker of the effectiveness of a treatment, and most chronic diseases are treated to a target, the different complications of obesity make it difficult to identify a single realistic weight goal suitable for all patients.’
The authors therefore recommend a focus on lifestyle changes to achieve ‘health gain that is sustainable’. However, specialist Mike Crotty advised against the ‘misconception’ that obesity is self-inflicted and can be treated through diet and exercise alone.
Bariatric surgeon Helen Heneghan added that a variety of approaches to treating obesity must be considered. She said: ‘Individual responses to medications are highly variable, hence, if treatment goals are not reached with medications, bariatric surgery should be considered.
‘Conversely people with a suboptimal response to bariatric surgery, or a recurrence of obesity-related diseases, may then benefit from moving to an obesity medication.’
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