Malnutrition Contributes $15.5 Billion to Nationwide Medical Spending Annually

Malnutrition associated with disease is responsible for more than $15.5 billion in direct medical costs each year, and is disproportionately driven by patients aged 65 years or older, according to an economic analysis recently published in PLOS One. 

“Our health care system already spends significant resources treating chronic diseases, and this new study shows how malnutrition — a preventable and treatable condition — is adding to that cost at the state level,” Scott Goates, PhD, health economist at Abbott and lead author of the analysis, said in a press release. “When people are well-nourished, we remove a barrier to successfully managing chronic conditions while lowering the financial burden on individuals and the health care system at large.”

To quantify the burden of disease-associated malnutrition (DAM), Dr Goates and colleagues examined the economic impact of eight diseases whose medical costs have been previously reported. After culling the incidences of these diseases and malnutrition from nationally representative surveys, the researchers estimated the increased annual cost of DAM by state and patient subgroup.

According to Dr Goates and colleagues’ analysis, annual DAM costs exceed $1.7 billion in California, while New York, Texas, and Florida each face expenditures of more than $1 billion. Per capita spending on DAM was lowest in Utah ($36) and greatest in Washington DC ($65). Nationally, the estimated annual burden for all eight diseases was $15.5 billion, or $48 per capita. 

These costs were primarily driven by dementia care and depression, which accrue approximately $8.7 billion and $2.5 billion in direct medical costs each year, respectively. In addition, the researchers found a disproportionate cost burden of DAM among patients aged at least 65 years. However, this finding is due to the higher prevalence of disease among aged patients as opposed to increased malnutrition, they noted.

“The joint area of clinical nutrition support and health economics is emerging, and is needed for value-based health care decisions,” Dr Goates and colleagues wrote. “Our study… comes at a critical time when continued implementation of United States health care reform provides an opportunity to bring increased awareness to malnutrition-related issues in the health care system so they can be addressed and help improve patient health outcomes and lower health care costs.” —Dave Muoio