HighlightsIn 2004, there were 1.7 million hospital stays during which obesity was noted, accounting for about 6 percent of all hospital stays-an increase of 112 percent since 1996.Among those principally hospitalized for obesity, 55.2 percent were age 18-44 and most of the remaining (42.9 percent) were age 45-64; only 1.2 percent were 65 or older. For those with obesity as a secondary diagnosis only, 23.7 percent were age 18-44 and 28.5 percent were 65 or older.Although just over 30 percent of both men and women were obese, about 82 percent of those with a principal diagnosis of obesity and 63.5 percent of those with obesity as a coexisting condition were women.The mean length of a hospital stay for obesity as a principal diagnosis was 3.1 days, but when obesity was a coexisting condition, the mean length of stay was 4.9 days.In the Northeast, 5.8 hospital stays per 10,000 were principally for obesity; in other regions, these stays ranged from 3.8 to 4.0 per 10,000. However, in the Northeast and West, 45 stays per 10,000 listed obesity as a secondary diagnosis, while rates were much higher in the Midwest and South, at 57 and 60 stays per 10,000.The most common principal diagnosis associated with obesity was coronary atherosclerosis, accounting for nearly 7 percent of all patients with obesity. This was 75 percent higher than among the nonobese hospitalized population.For hospital stays with obesity as a principal diagnosis, the majority involved gastric bypass and volume reduction surgery.
Obese Patients in U.S. Hospitals, 2004Anne Elixhauser, Ph.D. and Claudia Steiner, M.D., M.P.H.
IntroductionObesity has become a major public health problem in the United States. About 30 percent of the U.S. population is currently obese (body mass index [BMI] >=30), and an additional 35 percent of the population is overweight .1 An estimated 31.1 percent of adult males and 33.2 percent of adult females are obese. The health impacts of obesity are serious; the condition is linked to increased risk of hypertension, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, arthritis, respiratory problems, and some cancers. This Statistical Brief presents data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) on obese patients hospitalized during 2004. Characteristics and locations of patients, usage and expense of hospital stays, and associated diagnoses are examined for patients admitted primarily for obesity as well as for those with a secondary diagnosis-or comorbidity-of obesity.
FindingsIn 2004, there were nearly 1.7 million hospital stays during which obesity was noted, accounting for about 6 percent of all hospital stays. (Obesity appears to be under coded in hospital data given the much higher prevalence in the general population.) This figure has increased by 112 percent-or more than doubled-since 1996, when there were 797,000 admissions with a mention of obesity. In comparison, during this same time period, the total number of hospitalizations for any condition increased by about 1...