TY - JOUR
T1 - Joint impact of health risks on health care charges
T2 - 7-Year follow-up of National Health Insurance beneficiaries in Japan (the Ohsaki Study)
AU - Kuriyama, Shinichi
AU - Hozawa, Atsushi
AU - Ohmori, Kaori
AU - Suzuki, Yoshinori
AU - Nishino, Yoshikazu
AU - Fujita, Kazuki
AU - Tsubono, Yoshitaka
AU - Tsuji, Ichiro
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by a Health Sciences Research Grant for Health Services (H10-025), Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. The authors are grateful to Dr. S. Hisamichi for his valuable comments; to Dr. A. Sasaki for his managing the project site; to Y. Nakata, M. Wagatsuma, R. Taneichi, and T. Mogi for their helpful secretarial assistance.
PY - 2004/12
Y1 - 2004/12
N2 - Background. The objective of this study was to examine the joint impact of modifiable health-risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity on direct health care charges. Method. We conducted a population-based prospective cohort study, with follow-up from 1995 to 2001. The participants were Japanese National Health Insurance (NHI) beneficiaries (26,110 men and women aged 40-79 years). Results. 'No risk' group defined as never-smoking, body mass index (BMI) 20.0-24.9 kg/m2, and walking for ≥1 h/day had mean health care charges of $171.6 after adjustment for potential confounders. Compared with this group, the presence of smoking (SM; ever-smoking) alone, obesity alone (OB; BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2), or physical inactivity (PI; walking for <1 h/day) alone were associated with a 8.3%, 7.1%, or 8.0% increase in health care charges, respectively. The combinations of the risks of SM and OB, SM and PI, OB and PI, and SM and OB and PI were associated with a 11.7%, 31.4%, 16.4%, and 42.6% increase in charges, respectively. Conclusion. Interventions to improve modifiable health-risk factors may be a cost-effective approach for reducing health care charges as well as improving people's health.
AB - Background. The objective of this study was to examine the joint impact of modifiable health-risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity on direct health care charges. Method. We conducted a population-based prospective cohort study, with follow-up from 1995 to 2001. The participants were Japanese National Health Insurance (NHI) beneficiaries (26,110 men and women aged 40-79 years). Results. 'No risk' group defined as never-smoking, body mass index (BMI) 20.0-24.9 kg/m2, and walking for ≥1 h/day had mean health care charges of $171.6 after adjustment for potential confounders. Compared with this group, the presence of smoking (SM; ever-smoking) alone, obesity alone (OB; BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2), or physical inactivity (PI; walking for <1 h/day) alone were associated with a 8.3%, 7.1%, or 8.0% increase in health care charges, respectively. The combinations of the risks of SM and OB, SM and PI, OB and PI, and SM and OB and PI were associated with a 11.7%, 31.4%, 16.4%, and 42.6% increase in charges, respectively. Conclusion. Interventions to improve modifiable health-risk factors may be a cost-effective approach for reducing health care charges as well as improving people's health.
KW - Cohort studies
KW - Health care charges
KW - Japan
KW - Joint exposure
KW - Obesity
KW - Physical inactivity
KW - Smoking
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.04.033
DO - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.04.033
M3 - Article
C2 - 15539055
AN - SCOPUS:7944223100
VL - 39
SP - 1194
EP - 1199
JO - Preventive Medicine
JF - Preventive Medicine
SN - 0091-7435
IS - 6
ER -
