Obesity-related hospitalization costs to the US Navy, 1993 to 1998

The objective of this work was to estimate the cost to the U.S. Navy for ob esity-related hospital admissions by examining (1) inpatient utilization as sociated with obesity; (2) the rank order, probability, and total facility costs of obesity-related diagnosis-related groups (DRGs); and (3) expected inpatient expenses. The frequency and probability of inpatient events in th e Navy's active duty population were derived from the Department of Defense 's Retrospective Case Mix Analysis System. Medicare-based facility costs pe r DRG were estimated. These measures were combined in a decision-analytic m odel. Expected facility costs per obesity-related admission for active duty Navy personnel increased by age group from $3,328 for 18 to 24 year olds t o $5,746 for 45 to 64 year olds. The annual avoidable inpatient cost for th e Navy was estimated to be $5,842,627 for the top 10 obesity-related DRGs. Improvements to the Navy Physical Readiness Program and other interventions that may reduce obesity, obesity-related health care use, and the public e conomic burden should be pursued.