Abstract
Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are leading causes of mortality and two of the most costly diet-related ailments worldwide. Consumption of fiber-rich diets has been repeatedly associated with favorable impacts on these co-epidemics, however, the healthcare cost-related economic value of altered dietary fiber intakes remains poorly understood. In this study, we estimated the annual cost savings accruing to the Canadian healthcare system in association with reductions in T2D and CVD rates, separately, following increased intakes of dietary fiber by adults.Methods: A three-step cost-of-illness analysis was conducted to identify the percentage of individuals expected to consume fiber-rich diets in Canada, estimate increased fiber intakes in relation to T2D and CVD reduction rates, and independently assess the potential annual savings in healthcare costs associated with the reductions in rates of these two epidemics. The economic model employed a sensitivity analysis of four scenarios (universal, optimistic, pessimistic, and very pessimistic) to cover a range of assumptions within each step.Results: Non-trivial healthcare and related savings of CAD$35.9-$718.8 million in T2D costs and CAD$64.8 million–$1.3 billion in CVD costs were calculated under a scenario where cereal fiber was used to increase current intakes of dietary fiber to the recommended levels of 38 g per day for men and 25 g per day for women. Each 1 g per day increase in fiber consumption resulted in annual CAD$2.6 to $51.1 million savings for T2D and $4.6 to $92.1 million savings for CVD.Conclusion: Findings of this analysis shed light on the economic value of optimal dietary fiber intakes. Strategies to increase consumers’ general knowledge of the recommended intakes of dietary fiber, as part of healthy diet, and to facilitate stakeholder synergy are warranted to enable better management of healthcare and related costs associated with T2D and CVD in Canada.
Highlights
The growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been accompanied by escalating costs related to healthcare and society’s loss of productivity, putting these two diet-related epidemics among the world’s top public health policy priorities
Study Design Utilizing data from the current medical literature and recent healthcare cost estimates from national databases, a three-step variation of a cost-of-illness analysis was conducted to evaluate the healthcare-related economic benefits of fiber consumption: (i) Determination of the success rate, which represents the proportion of the Canadian population expected to consume fiber-rich diets, (ii) Independent analysis of the T2D and CVD reduction rates that would result from consumption of dietary fiber, and (iii) Estimation of the healthcare cost savings associated with reductions in T2D and CVD rates
The pessimistic scenario is a practical short- to medium-term estimate of cost savings that could follow the increase in dietary cereal fiber intakes among 15% of adults
Summary
The growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and CVD has been accompanied by escalating costs related to healthcare and society’s loss of productivity, putting these two diet-related epidemics among the world’s top public health policy priorities. 9% of adults around the world were diagnosed with diabetes in World Health Organization (2014), of which 90% had T2D, together with 4.9 million deaths and diabetes-related costs that reached US$612 billion. Similar trends have been observed for costs related to CVD, which accounted for over 30% of all deaths (17 million) worldwide in 2008 (World Health Organization, 2011). The global economic burden associated with the disease management costs of CVD was estimated to reach US$863 billion in 2010 and is projected to exceed 1 trillion by 2030 (World Health Organization, 2011). We estimated the annual cost savings accruing to the Canadian healthcare system in association with reductions in T2D and CVD rates, separately, following increased intakes of dietary fiber by adults
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
