Daily Steps and Healthcare Costs in Japanese Communities

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2021 Jul 24

PMID 34301997

Citations 3

Authors

Shohei Okamoto

Kazuki Kamimura

Kenichi Shiraishi

Kazuto Sumita

Kohei Komamura

Akiko Tsukao

Shoko Chijiki

Shinya Kuno

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Physical inactivity is a pandemic that requires intensive, usually costly efforts for risk reduction of related chronic diseases. Nevertheless, it is challenging to determine the effectiveness of physical activity in healthcare cost reduction based on existing literature. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of physical activity (daily steps) on healthcare costs utilising the data retrieved from a health promotion project (the e-wellness Project, held in three municipalities in Japan). Evaluating the effects of daily steps, measured by pedometers, on healthcare costs by a quasi-experimental approach among participants aged 40-75 years (about 4000 person-years of observation, between 2009 and 2013), we found that a one-step-increase in the annual average daily step reduced outpatient healthcare costs by 16.26 JPY (≒ 0.11 GBD) in the short run. Based on the assumption of a dynamic relationship between the health statuses in multiple years, the long-run effects of daily steps on healthcare costs were estimated at 28.24 JPY (≒ 0.20 GBD). We determined the health benefits of walking in a sample of middle-aged and older Japanese adults by our findings that an increase in step counts reduced healthcare costs.

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