Background: The aim of this study was to examine the attribution of each cardiovascular risk factor in combination with abdominal obesity (AO) on Japanese health expenditures.
Methods: The health insurance claims of 43,469 National Health Insurance beneficiaries aged 40–75 years in Ibaraki, Japan, from the second cohort of the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study were followed-up from 2009 through 2013. Multivariable health expenditure ratios (HERs) of diabetes mellitus (DM), high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and hypertension with and without AO were calculated with reference to no risk factors using a Tweedie regression model.
Results: Without AO, HERs were 1.58 for DM, 1.06 for high LDL-C, 1.27 for low HDL-C, and 1.31 for hypertension (all P P
Conclusions: Of the obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors, hypertension, independent of AO, appears to impose the greatest burden on Japanese health expenditures.