The economic burden of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia

<b>Context</b>: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia has been rising. Although the health burden of excess weight is well established, little is known about the economic burden. <b>Aims</b>: To assess the economic burden—both direct medical costs and the value of absenteeism and presenteeism—resulting from overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia. <b>Settings and Design</b>: The cost of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia was estimated from a societal perspective using an epidemiologic approach. <b>Methods and Materials</b>: Data were obtained from previously published studies and secondary databases. <b>Statistical analysis used: </b>Overweight/obesity-attributable costs were calculated for six major noncommunicable diseases; sensitivity analyses were conducted for key model parameters. <b>Results: </b>The impact of overweight and obesity for these diseases is found to directly cost a total of $3.8 billion, equal to 4.3 percent of total health expenditures in Saudi Arabia in 2019. Estimated overweight and obesity–attributable absenteeism and presenteeism costs a total of $15.5 billion, equal to 0.9 percent of GDP in 2019. <b>Conclusions: </b>Even when limited to six diseases and a subset of total indirect costs, results indicate that overweight and obesity are a significant economic burden in Saudi Arabia. Future studies should identify strategies to reduce the health and economic burden resulting from excess weight in Saudi Arabia.

**研究背景**：沙特阿拉伯的超重与肥胖（Overweight and Obesity）患病率持续攀升。尽管超重所带来的健康负担已得到广泛证实，但学界对其经济负担的认知仍较为匮乏。**研究目的**：评估沙特阿拉伯境内超重与肥胖所引发的经济负担，涵盖直接医疗成本（Direct Medical Costs），以及缺勤（Absenteeism）与在岗低效（Presenteeism）所带来的价值损失。**研究场景与设计**：本研究从社会整体视角（Societal Perspective）出发，采用流行病学方法（Epidemiologic Approach），对沙特阿拉伯超重与肥胖相关成本进行估算。**研究方法与资料来源**：本研究数据取自已发表的既往研究与二级数据库（Secondary Databases）。**所用统计分析方法**：针对六种主要非传染性疾病（Noncommunicable Diseases），计算超重/肥胖相关归因成本；同时针对核心模型参数（Model Parameters）开展敏感性分析（Sensitivity Analyses）。**研究结果**：研究发现，超重与肥胖对上述六种疾病的影响所带来的直接医疗总成本达38亿美元，占2019年沙特阿拉伯全国卫生总支出的4.3%。经估算，超重与肥胖相关的缺勤与在岗低效损失总成本达155亿美元，占2019年沙特阿拉伯国内生产总值（GDP）的0.9%。**研究结论**：即便仅针对六种疾病与部分间接成本开展分析，研究结果仍表明，超重与肥胖已成为沙特阿拉伯境内不容忽视的重大经济负担。未来的研究应探索针对性策略，以减轻沙特阿拉伯境内超重所带来的健康与经济负担。