Utilization of health care resources by obese Canadians

The prevalence of obesity in Canada has been increasing in recent years. Using data from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), the authors determined the prevalence of obesity among Canadians, the associated comorbidities and the patterns of resource utilization by obese people.

The NPHS, a cross-sectional survey conducted in 1994, was administered to 17,626 Canadians 12 years of age or older who were not long-term residents of hospitals or long-term care facilities and were not residing on First Nations reserves or Canadian Armed Forces bases, or in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. For the authors' analysis, the study population consisted of 12,318 Canadians aged 20-64 years who were not pregnant and for whom the body mass index (BMI) had been calculated. The prevalence of comorbidities, health status index scores, self-esteem, self-rated health, restriction of activity, health care resource utilization (physician visits, disability days, admissions to hospital and medication use) were determined for obese people (BMI of 27 or greater) and nonobese people.

The NPHS data revealed that 35.2% of men and 25.8% of women in Canada were obese in 1994. Obese respondents were more likely than nonobese respondents to suffer from stress (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.31), activity restrictions (adjusted OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.26-1.54) and a number of chronic comorbidities. Obese respondents were also more likely to consult with physicians (adjusted OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.22-1.43), be prescribed a number of medications and to require excess disability days (adjusted OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.08-1.36).

Obesity represents a substantial burden on the health of Canadians and on Canada's health care resources.