Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
Grossschaedl, F.
Epidemiology of obesity among Austrian adults between 1973 and 2006/07: Long-term trends in subpopulations, education-related social inequalities and obesity-associated diseases and disorders
[ Dissertation ] Medical University of Graz; 2013. pp. 174
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- Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz:
- Großschädl Franziska
- Betreuer*innen:
- Berghold Andrea
- Stronegger Willibald
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- Abstract:
- Introduction: Obesity is one of the ten leading risk factors for health problems and the fastest growing health risk worldwide. It is important to examine trends in obesity to identify affected subpopulations and to plan target-group specific interventions. There is little evidence for the epidemiological development of obesity and its complications in Austria. Therefore, the present study investigated long-term trends in the prevalence of obesity across different subpopulations (age, education, region) among women and men in Austria. This study aimed determining relative inequalities for obesity and investigated obesity-associated diseases and disorders (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, back pain, sleep disorder, depression and headache) in Austria and for different subpopulations. Methods: Self-reported data were derived from five nationally representative cross-sectional interview surveys, which were conducted in the years 1973, 1983, 1991, 1999 and 2006/07. The interviews took place in Austrian private homes and long-term care facilities. Persons aged 20 years and older were included in the study sample (n = 178,818). Based on results of a preliminary study which investigated the validitiy of self-reported weight and height, data correction factors for BMI were applied to this study. Obesity was defined accordingly to the WHO as BMI = 30 kg/m². Absolute changes and aetiologic fractions were calculated to measure trends in the prevalence of obesity and obesity-associated diseases and disorders. To quantify the extent of social inequality for obesity, the relative index of inequality was computed on basis of the educational level. Outcomes: The age-adjusted prevalence of obesity was 10.9% during the study period and higher among women than men (women: 11.4%, 95% CI: 10.8 ¿ 12.1; men: 9.9%, 95% CI: 9.3 ¿ 10.5; p < 0.001). Obesity and a high mean BMI were most prevalent among subjects aged 55-74 years, with a low educational level and living in Eastern Austria. The absolute change in obesity prevalence during the study period was highest among women and men aged 55 years and older with a low educational level (p < 0.001). Considering regional differences, the highest absolute change was found among women in Central Austria and men in Western Austria (p < 0.001). Education-related inequalities for obesity were higher among women than men. However, inequalities showed a tendency to increase within the last decades only among men. Furthermore, this study showed that there was a rise in the selected obesity-associated diseases and disorders during the study period, with exception of headache, for which the prevalence slightly decreased within the investigation period. The highest increase in the prevalence of obesity-associated diseases and disorders was found among obese subjects, especially obese women. Conclusions: There was a clear increase in the prevalence of obesity between 1973 and 2006/07 among Austrian adults. Particular emphasis should be put on persons of retirement age with low education, because this subgroup showed the highest prevalence and the greatest increase in the prevalence of obesity. Furthermore, these results showed that obesity is a significant factor in increasing comorbidity of investigated diseases and disorders, which should be taken into account for planning of treatment and prevention programs. This data suggests that the development of strategies for weight maintenance and reduction must become a higher priority in Austria, especially for certain subgroups. Further research is needed to investigate the causality of obesity with factors, such as cultural and lifestyle determinants to get a better understanding of the development of this disease. Furthermore, regular monitoring of obesity would be important to control risk groups and study effectiveness of health promoting policies in Austria.