The Association between Health Risks and Medical Expenditures in a Japanese Corporation (original) (raw)

2005, American Journal of Health Promotion

Purpose. To examine the relationship between health risks and medical care expenditures in an employer setting in Japan. Design. A cross-sectional, correlational study. Setting. A large Japanese corporation. Subjects. A total of 6543 employees of a large Japanese electronics company, for whom medical expenditures, lifestyle risks and biometric data were available, were included in the analysis. Seventy-six percent were male, and subjects were primarily white-collar workers. Measures. Medical expenditure data were available for fiscal year 2000, including inpatient, outpatient, and total expenditures, measured in Japanese yen. Binary expenditure indicators for those having no claims and those having high claims (90th percentile) were also created. Risk measures included biometric assessment of high blood pressure and high body mass index (BMI, body weight and height) and self-reported stress, lack of exercise, excess alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, current smoking, and recent qu...