Burden of Disease and Cost of Illness of Overweight and Obesity in Portugal

Introduction:The prevalence of overweight and obesity hasincreased in the last decades, posing significant health andeconomic impacts globally. These conditions are related toseveral non-communicable diseases, including cardiovas-cular disease, type II diabetes, and cancer. This study esti-mated the disease burden and healthcare costs associatedwith overweight and obesity in the adult population inmainland Portugal, in 2018.Method:Burden of disease wasmeasured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) followingGlobal Burden of Disease (GBD) methodology. DALYs werecalculated as the sum of years of life lost (YLL) and years livedwith disability (YLD). The analyses included morbidity,mortality, and related costs directly related to overweightand obesity, as well as the attributable morbidity, mortality,and related costs of 25 selected diseases related to obesity(DrO). A prevalence-based cost analysis was conducted afrom the perspective of the public National Health Service,including costs related to inpatient, outpatient care, andpharmacological treatment.Results:In 2018, total DALYamounted to 260,943, with 75% due to premature death(196,438 YLL) and 25% due to disability (64,505 YLD). Theeconomic burden of overweight and obesity was estimatedat approximately EUR 1,148 million. Of these, approximatelyEUR 13.3 million (1%) were costs related to the treatment ofobesity, and the remaining were costs of DrO attributed tooverweight and obesity. Outpatient care corresponded to43% of total costs, pharmacological treatment 38%, andinpatient care 19%. Cardiovascular and cerebrovasculardiseases were the largest contributor to total costs (38%),followed by type II diabetes (34%).Conclusion:Overweightand obesity incur a large disease and economic burden tothe public healthcare sector, representing approximately0.6% of the country's gross domestic product and 5.8% ofpublic health expenditures.(c) 2024 The Author(s).Published by S. Karger AG, Basel