Economic preferences and obesity: Evidence from a clinical lab-in-field study.
Health Econ
; 32(9): 2147-2167, 2023 09.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37415320
ABSTRACT
Many studies which describe the relationship between obesity and economic preference rely on healthy, clinically-irrelevant populations. Instead, we study economic decision-making of a clinically-relevant population of 299 people with obesity who participated in a 6-months Randomized Controlled Trial in two Sydney-based hospitals to prevent diabetes onset. To elicit preferences, we use incentive-compatible experimental tasks that participants completed during their medical screening examination. In this population, we find that participants are risk averse, show no evidence of present bias, and have impatience levels comparable to healthy samples described in the international literature. Variations in present bias and impatience are not significantly associated with variations in markers of obesity. We find however a statistically significant negative association between risk tolerance and markers of obesity for women. Importantly, impatience moderates the link between risk tolerance and obesity, a finding which we are able to replicate in nationally-representative survey data. We discuss explanations for why our findings deviate markedly from the literature for this understudied but highly policy-relevant population. One explanation is that our specific population consists of forward-looking, well-educated individuals, who are willing to participate in an intensive health intervention. Hence, other factors may be at play for why these individuals live with obesity.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Obesidade
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Health_economic_evaluation
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Prognostic_studies
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Screening_studies
Limite:
Female
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article