Investigation of chronic diseases and medical costs among rural adults in Fuxin area

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of chronic diseases(hypertension,coronary heart disease,stroke and diabetes)and direct medical costs of the diseases among rural adults in Fuxin area.MethodsThrough cluster multistage random sampling,45 925 residents aged≥35 years old in eight small towns of Fuxin area were selected.The medical costs attributable to overweight and obesity were estimated through multiplying the disease costs by population attributable risk (PAR)for each disease.ResultsThe prevalence of hypertension,coronary heart disease,stroke and diabetes in the subjects was 37.8%,4.2%,2.5% and 1.9%,respectively.The direct economic burden of the four chronic diseases were 5.2,1.3, 1.7 and 1.4 billion yuan(RMB)and the medical cost attributable to overweight and obesity was estimated at 2.3 billion yuan,accounting for 24.4% of the total medical costs for the four chronic diseases.ConclusionThe heavy economic burden of overweight and obesity calls for urgent need to develop effective interventions in order to prevent further worsening of the situation and to minimize the economic burden of obesity-related diseases.