Impact of walking upon medical care expenditure in Japan: the Ohsaki Cohort Study

Physical activity is expected to reduce medical costs by lowering the risk for a variety of chronic diseases. However, little is known about the actual magnitude of medical cost saved by physical activity. We attempted to quantify the association between time spent walking and medical care costs, ba...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of epidemiology 2003-10, Vol.32 (5), p.809-814
Main Authors: Tsuji, Ichiro, Takahashi, Kohko, Nishino, Yoshikazu, Ohkubo, Takayoshi, Kuriyama, Shinichi, Watanabe, Yoko, Anzai, Yukiko, Tsubono, Yoshitaka, Hisamichi, Shigeru
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Cohort Studies
Female
Health Care Costs - statistics & numerical data
Health Services Research
Hospitalization - economics
Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Japan
Male
Medical Record Linkage
Middle Aged
Outpatient Clinics, Hospital - economics
Outpatient Clinics, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
Prospective Studies
Time Factors
Walking - statistics & numerical data
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Summary:Physical activity is expected to reduce medical costs by lowering the risk for a variety of chronic diseases. However, little is known about the actual magnitude of medical cost saved by physical activity. We attempted to quantify the association between time spent walking and medical care costs, based on a 4-year prospective observation of National Health Insurance (NHI) beneficiaries in rural Japan. In 27 431 Japanese men and women, aged 40-79 years, who had no functional limitation or conditions interfering with physical activity at the baseline survey in 1994, we ascertained all hospitalizations, outpatient visits, and the costs through computerized linkage with NHI claims history files between January 1995 and December 1998. Medical costs significantly reduced with longer time spent walking. Per capita medical cost was pound 111.80 per month (95% CI: 109.3, 114.2) in those who walked for < or =30 minutes/day, pound 108.10 (95% CI: 105.7, 110.5) in those who walked for 30 minutes-1 hour, and pound 97.30 (95% CI: 95.5, 99.0) in those who walked for > or =1 hour, after multivariate adjustment of potential confounders. This prospective study in Japan indicated that time spent walking was significantly associated with lower medical costs.
ISSN:0300-5771
1464-3685
DOI:10.1093/ije/dyg189