The cost of eating disorders
December 12, 2012
UP to 1,828 people will die of an
eating disorder this year, according
to a new report.
Commissioned by the Butterfly
Foundation, the Paying the Price
report looked at the prevalence,
financial costs and impact of eating
disorders in Australia, based on
national and international statistics,
as well as a survey.
According to the report, there are
more than 913,000 people in
Australia with an eating disorder,
(around 4% of the population).
Of these, 3% have anorexia
nervosa, 12% have bulimia nervosa,
47% suffer binge eating disorder
and 38% have ‘other eating disorders’.
Females comprise around 64% of
the total.
Looking at the financial side of the
issue, the report found that health
system expenditure for eating
disorders sits at around $99.9
million in 2012, whilst the productivity
impacts of eating disorders were
estimated as $15.1 billion.
Overall the “burden of disease”
from eating disorders is estimated
at $52.6 billion, a figure which was
calculated by multiplying the
years of healthy life lost by the
value of a statistical life year.
In terms of length of disease
state, the report found that eating
disorders have a lengthy duration of
around 15 years.
Meanwhile the report also noted
that mortality rates are almost
twice as high (than the annual
death rate) for people with eating
disorders and 5.86 times higher for
people with anorexia, compared to
those without the conditions.
Researchers also noted that illicit
drug use and alcohol abuse is also
significantly higher amongst those
with an eating disorder, whilst long
term complications of anorexia and
‘eating disorder not otherwise
specified’ include kidney failure,
heart failure, osteoporosis and
infertility.
Adult growth and development
can also be inhibited if anorexia is
experienced as a child, or young
adolescent, whilst bulimia is linked
to dental, gum and other mouth
problems.
In terms of binge eating disorder,
researchers found that one of its
main co-morbidities is obesity, with
estimates that almost 44% of
sufferers have a history of severe
obesity.
In addition, researchers found
that about one in ten individuals
with anorexia do not live a further
ten years after the onset of
the disorder, and that of these
deaths 20% are suicides.
Moving towards a brighter future
for sufferers, the report
recommends including eating
disorder questions be added to the
Australian Health Survey in order
to ensure the collection of better
information in relation to tracking
relevance, mortality and health
system costs; as well as the
inclusion of binge eating disorder
as a condition in the International
Classification of Primary Care.
Other recommendations include
the addition of eating disorders in
welfare data; an increase in
Medicare psychology coverage
and/or Partners in recovery (Pir)
referral; as well as an increase
private health insurance coverage.
Treatment recommendations in
the report include making eating
disorders a priority for Medicare
Locals.
“Relative to prevalence, there
appears a lack of focus on
treatment for eating disorders
across acute and community care
settings,” the report said.
“The reports from survey
participants of not being able to
access appropriate treatment when
needed are harrowing,” the report
added.
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