Abstract
Background: This report uses population-based individual-level data to compute direct estimates of the costs of physicians’ services in Ontario in relation to Body Mass Index (BMI) and smoking.
Methods: Subjects were 2,170 respondents to the National Population Health Survey who approved linkage to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.
Results: The mean per capita cost of physicians’ services in Ontario increased by $8.90 (95% CI: $1.90 - $15.60) for each unit increase in BMI and by $1.75 (95% CI: $0.11 - $3.40) for every year of daily smoking. The annual attributable cost of smoking and overweight among residents of Ontario, aged 40–79, was estimated at $275,000,000.
Conclusions: Overweight and smoking are responsible for large costs to the health care system. The cost of public health initiatives could be easily recovered if they were successful in making only moderate changes to the levels of smoking and body weight in the population.
Résumé
Contexte: au moyen de données représentatives individuelles, nous avons obtenu des estimations directes des coûts des services médicaux en Ontario liés à l’indice de masse corporelle (IMC) et au tabagisme.
Méthode: nous avons sondé 2 170 répondants de l’Enquête nationale sur la santé de la population ayant accepté le jumelage de leurs données personnelles avec celles du Régime d’assurance-maladie de l’Ontario.
Résultats: le coût moyen par personne des services médicaux en Ontario a augmenté de 8,90 $ (95 % IC: 1,90 $ - 15,60 $) pour chaque accroissement unitaire de l’IMC et de 1,75 $ (95 % IC: 0,11 $ - 3,40 $) pour chaque année de tabagisme quotidien. Le coût annuel attribuable au tabagisme et à l’embonpoint des résidents ontariens de 40 à 79 ans était d’environ 275 millions de dollars.
Conclusion: l’embonpoint et le tabagisme entraînent des coûts importants pour le système de soins de santé. Le coût des initiatives de santé publique serait facilement récupéré si ces initiatives réussissaient à réduire, même de façon modeste, le tabagisme et l’embonpoint dans la population.
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