ArticleClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR2025
The Burden of Obesity in Saudi Arabia: A Real-World Cost-of-Illness Study.
Article in ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Epidemiological Trends and Burden of Adult Kidney Cancer in Saudi Arabia: A 42-Year Retrospective Analysis (1982-2023).Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Observational
- Article
- MRI-Based Evaluation of Lumbar Epidural Space Depth and Its Correlation with Anthropometric Factors in Saudi Adults.Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.) · 2026Article
- Prevalence of economic burden of overweight and obesity and their associated factors in Saudi Arabia.Asian biomedicine : research, reviews and news · 2026Article
- Rising obesity and shifting disease patterns in Saudi Arabia: a nine-year population-based analysis of chronic disease burden and multimorbidity profiles.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Burden of hypertension-related diseases in Eastern Mediterranean region.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Prevalence and age-related trends of overweight and obesity among Saudi children aged 2-14 years during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cross-sectional study.SAGE open medicine · 2026Article
- Professional perspectives on PN among registered dietitians in Saudi Arabia: a mixed-methods assessment.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Associations of nutrition knowledge and dietary habits with stress among university employees in Saudi Arabia: mixed-methods evidence.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Gaps in Community-Based Screening for Non-Communicable Diseases in Saudi Arabia.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Body Weight Loss Experience Among Adults from Saudi Arabia and Assessment of Factors Associated with Weight Regain: A Cross-Sectional Study.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Cost-Utility Analysis of Metabolic Bariatric Surgery for Individuals with Obesity in Saudi Arabia.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Adults Attending Primary Health Care Centers in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia.Saudi journal of medicine & medical sciencesArticle
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The rising prevalence of obesity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) poses a significant public health challenge. Estimates of the economic cost of obesity are crucial for prioritizing healthcare interventions, guiding policy choices, and justifying budget allocations aimed at reducing obesity prevalence. This study aimed to estimate the cost of obesity in the KSA in 2022. Methods: A prevalence-based cost-of-illness approach was used to determine the cost of obesity. This analysis encompasses 29 diseases, namely obesity and twenty-eight diseases attributable to obesity. Both direct and indirect costs were considered. The annual cost of treatment for each obesity-attributable disease was obtained from the hospital records of one tertiary hospital in the KSA. Data on direct non-medical costs were obtained from the patient survey. The human capital approach was used to estimate the indirect costs of morbidity and mortality. Results: The total economic burden of obesity (2022 values) was estimated at US$116.85 billion from a societal perspective and US$109.67 billion from a healthcare system perspective. From a societal perspective, the total direct medical cost accounted for the largest portion of the total cost (94%). In terms of direct medical costs, the cost of treating diseases attributable to obesity was substantially greater than the cost of treating obesity itself. According to the sensitivity analysis, the total cost ranged from 3.4% of the country's Gross domestic product (GDP) when the unit cost of treatment was reduced by 74% to 9.5% of the country's GDP when the prevalence of obesity and its comorbidities was reduced by 5%. Conclusion: Obesity imposes a substantial economic burden on the healthcare system and society in the KSA. Interventions aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles to reduce the prevalence and incidence of obesity and its comorbidities are highly warranted to alleviate the impact of obesity in the country.
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