Objectives: To estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for effective
treatment in a sample of obese individuals and to examine whether WTP is
associated with factors reflecting the severity of obesity as well as a number
of other variables such as age, sex, education, and income.
Methods: WTP and data on the severity of obesity were collected
from the study, Swedish Obese Subjects. Associations between WTP, income, and
obesity-related factors were analyzed by linear regression.
Results: The mean age was 47 years (range, 37 through 59 years)
and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 39.6 kg/m2 (n = 3,549).
Average personal monthly income was SEK 13,000 (≈ US $1,585), average WTP
was SEK 26,900 (≈ US $3,280) and the median value was SEK 10,900 (≈ US
$1,330). A high WTP was associated with high personal and household income,
high weight, high education, female sex, poor perceived health, low current
age, and low age at onset of obesity. Over 50% of the patients deemed it
necessary to borrow money to cover their WTP. When adding a loan to the
regression analysis, the associations between WTP and perceived health, age,
and gender disappeared.
Conclusion: Obese patients are willing to pay approximately twice
their monthly salary for effective treatment and a higher WTP is associated
with higher weight and poorer perceived health.