OBJECTIVES:

The prevalence of obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30kg/m²) and severe obesity (class III, BMI ≥ 40kg/m²) in the United States general population increased steadily during the past decades and is still on the rise. Understanding the patient characteristics and predicting the trajectory of inpatient population with obesity is important for healthcare providers to be prepared with appropriate logistics, equipment, and healthcare resources. We evaluated yearly trend of obesity and severe obesity among hospitalized patients between 2017 and 2021.

METHODS:

A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed using PINC AI™ Healthcare Database for adult (aged≥20 years) inpatients with height and weight measurements available and discharged between 1/1/2017−12/31/2021. Pregnant patients were excluded.

RESULTS:

Among 2,824,488 adult inpatients, the prevalence of obesity increased from 37.9% in 2017 and 2018, 38.4% in 2019, 38.6% in 2020, to 39.8% in 2021. The prevalence of severe obesity increased from 8.6% in 2017, 8.7% in 2018, 8.8% in 2019, 9.0% in 2020, to 9.8% in 2021. Among men (n=1,387,211), prevalence of obesity increased from 34.5% to 36.5% and severe obesity increased from 6.5% to 7.3%. Among women (n=1,437,207), the prevalence of obesity increased from 40.9% to 43.1% and severe obesity increased from 10.5% to 12.3%. The overall prevalence of obesity was highest among 40−59 years old patients (n=732,950) at 47.8% and lowest among 75+ years old patients (n=812,145) at 25.7%. However, the largest increase in prevalence of overall obesity and severe obesity was observed among patients in the 20-39 years age group (n=340,667), from 34.9% to 41.3% and 10.4% to 14.3% (in 2017 and 2021), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

The prevalence of obesity among hospitalized adult patients is similar to that of national prevalence of obesity among adults. Overall prevalence of obesity increased steadily between 2017 and 2021 and most notably among 20-39 years old patients.