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An examination of the relationships between service use and alternative measures of obesity among community-dwelling adults in Ireland

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  • Edel Doherty
  • Michelle Queally
  • Ciaran O’Neill

Abstract

Obesity has received increased attention arising from its increasing prevalence and the implications of obesity-related problems for society and the wider economy. To estimate healthcare and non-healthcare obesity impacts, many studies rely on body mass index (BMI) as a measure of obesity. However BMI is considered to be a noisy measure of total body fat that unlike some other measures does not capture fat distribution. This study uses one such measure, the waist-to-hip ratio, as both an alternative and in conjunction with BMI in the estimation of the relationship between adiposity and health service use. The article uses data from a large-scale study of older adults living in Ireland (the Tilda data set). The findings indicate that studies that include both measures of general and central adiposity may provide a more comprehensive characterisation of the relationship between healthcare service use and adiposity. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Edel Doherty & Michelle Queally & Ciaran O’Neill, 2015. "An examination of the relationships between service use and alternative measures of obesity among community-dwelling adults in Ireland," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(9), pages 951-956, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:16:y:2015:i:9:p:951-956
    DOI: 10.1007/s10198-014-0643-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mosca, Irene, 2012. "Obesity and Employment in Ireland: Moving Beyond BMI," Papers WP431, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    2. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Cawley, John, 2008. "Beyond BMI: The value of more accurate measures of fatness and obesity in social science research," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 519-529, March.
    3. Johansson, Edvard & Böckerman, Petri & Kiiskinen, Urpo & Heliövaara, Markku, 2009. "Obesity and labour market success in Finland: The difference between having a high BMI and being fat," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 36-45, March.
    4. A. Konnopka & M. Bödemann & H.-H. König, 2011. "Health burden and costs of obesity and overweight in Germany," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 12(4), pages 345-352, August.
    5. Pat McGregor & Pat McKee & Ciaran O’Neill, 2006. "GP Utilisation in Northern Ireland - Exploiting the Gatekeeper Function," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 37(1), pages 71-90.
    6. Edel Doherty & Anne Dee & Ciaran O’Neill, 2012. "Estimating the Amount of Overweight and Obesity Related Health-Care Use in the Republic of Ireland Using SLÁN Data," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 43(2), pages 227-250.
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    Cited by:

    1. Matilde Leonardi & Davide Guido & Rui Quintas & Fabiola Silvaggi & Erika Guastafierro & Andrea Martinuzzi & Somnath Chatterji & Seppo Koskinen & Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk & Josep Maria Haro & Maria Cabel, 2018. "Factors Related to Unemployment in Europe. A Cross-Sectional Study from the COURAGE Survey in Finland, Poland and Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Jonas Minet Kinge, 2017. "Waist circumference, body mass index, and employment outcomes," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(6), pages 787-799, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adiposity; BMI; Waist to hip; Health service use; C31; I12;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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