Hospital Charges and Comorbidities of Obese and Morbidly Obese Patients

To examine the variations in average hospital charges and to describe comorbidities between non-obese, obese, and morbidly obese, a retrospective analysis of 2005 inpatient data from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) was performed. Of all hospitalizations (N=2,534,641) in Florida during 2005, 94.9%, 3.3%, and 1.8% belonged to non-obese, obese, and morbidly obese patients, respectively. Socio-demographic (e.g., race/ethnicity, health insurance) and hospital characteristics (e.g., length of stay or LOS) differed significantly in three groups. Also, case mix, age, sex, race/ethnicity, LOS, and health insurance-adjusted mean hospital charges (US $) were significantly different among non-obese (15,021), obese (19,550), and morbidly obese groups (22,192) (p < .01). The most common reason for hospitalization was coronary atherosclerosis among non-obese and obese patients while it was congestive heart failure among morbidly obese patients. Hospital charges increased as weight increased among Florida inpatients, thus, economicconsequences of obesity should be further explored. Note: Work originated when W.M. Hlaing and D.M. Davalos were in the department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Florida International University.