Healthcare utilisation in overweight and obese children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to systematically analyse the association of overweight and obesity with health service utilisation during childhood.

Data sources: PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and Web of Science.

Methods: Observational studies published up to May 2020 that assessed the impact of overweight and obesity on healthcare utilisation in children and adolescents were included. Studies were eligible for inclusion if the included participants were ≤19 years of age. Findings from all included studies were summarised narratively. In addition, rate ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs were calculated in a meta-analysis on a subgroup of eligible studies.

Outcome measures: Included studies reported association of weight status with healthcare utilisation measures of outpatient visits, emergency department (ED) visits, general practitioner visits, hospital admissions and hospital length of stay.

Results: Thirty-three studies were included in the review. When synthesising the findings from all studies narratively, obesity and overweight were found to be positively associated with increased healthcare utilisation in children for all the outcome measures. Six studies reported sufficient data to meta-analyse association of weight with outpatient visits. Five studies were included in a separate meta-analysis for the outcome measure of ED visits. In comparison with normal-weight children, rates of ED (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.68) and outpatient visits (RR 1.11, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.20) were significantly higher in obese children. The rates of ED and outpatient visits by overweight children were only slightly higher and non-significant compared with normal-weight children.

Conclusions: Obesity in children is associated with increased healthcare utilisation. Future research should assess the impact of ethnicity and obesity-associated health conditions on increased healthcare utilisation in children with overweight and obesity.

PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018091752