| he purpose of this study was to estimate the relationship between obesity and healthcare spending and examine how changes in obesity affect healthcare costs within cohorts of commercially insured employees in the United States. Using healthcare claims and self-reported health risk assessment data obtained from the Truven Health Analytics MarketScanRTM database, the study examined cohorts of 58,032 individuals over a five year period as they move from obese to non-obese, non-obese to obese, or remain status quo to determine the impact of obesity status on healthcare costs. Multivariate ordinary least squares regression models were used to examine these relationships, controlling for confounding variables. The average change in total healthcare costs for those who move from non-obese to obese (Low-High) was... |
