The cost of inaction on physical inactivity to public health-care systems: a population-attributable fraction analysis

Physical inactivity is an important modifiable risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions. We aimed to estimate the public health-care costs associated with these diseases because of physical inactivity, which will help policy makers to prioritise investment in policy actions to promote and enable more people to be more active.

We used a population-attributable fraction formula to estimate the direct public health-care costs of NCDs and mental health conditions for 2020-30. The disease outcomes that we included were incident cases of coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer (breast, colon, bladder, endometrial, oesophageal, gastric, and renal), dementia, and depression in adults aged at least 18 years. We used the most recent health and economic data evidence available for 194 countries.