RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Economic burden of low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour in Finland JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health JO J Epidemiol Community Health FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP 677 OP 684 DO 10.1136/jech-2021-217998 VO 76 IS 7 A1 Päivi Kolu A1 Jaana T Kari A1 Jani Raitanen A1 Harri Sievänen A1 Kari Tokola A1 Eino Havas A1 Jaakko Pehkonen A1 Tuija H Tammelin A1 Katja Pahkala A1 Nina Hutri-Kähönen A1 Olli T Raitakari A1 Tommi Vasankari YR 2022 UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/76/7/677.abstract AB Background Low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour are unquestionably relevant for public health while also increasing direct and indirect costs.Methods The authors examined the direct and indirect costs attributable to low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour in Finland in 2017. Costs related to major non-communicable diseases drawn from Finnish registries covered direct costs (outpatient visits, days of inpatient care, medication and institutional eldercare) and indirect costs (sickness-related absences, disability pensions, unemployment benefits, all-cause mortality and losses of income tax revenue). Prevalences of low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour (≥8 hours per 16 waking hours) were based on self-reports among adolescents or accelerometer data among adults and the elderly from three Finnish population studies: FINFIT 2017, Health 2011 and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Cost calculations used adjusted population attributable fractions (PAF) and regression models. Total annual costs were obtained by multiplying PAF by the total costs of the given disease.Results The total costs of low physical activity in Finland in 2017 came to approximately €3.2 billion, of which direct costs accounted for €683 million and indirect ones for €2.5 billion. Costs attributable to high sedentary behaviour totalled roughly €1.5 billion.Conclusion The findings suggest that low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour levels create substantial societal costs. Therefore, actions intended to increase physical activity and reduce excessive sedentary behaviour throughout life may yield not only better health but also considerable savings to society.Data are available upon reasonable request. Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. No data are available. YFS-FLEED-LPC data: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS) data set comprises health related participant data and their use is therefore restricted under the regulations on professional secrecy (Act on the Openness of Government Activities, 612/1999) and on sensitive personal data (Personal Data Act, 523/1999, implementing the EU data protection directive 95/46/EC). Also, the informed consents for the original study must be taken into consideration. In addition, data have also been obtained from registry authorities with permission to use them for the original research only. After appraising the request, the Ethics committee concludes that under applicable law, the data from this study cannot be stored in public repositories or otherwise made publicly available. The data controller (=this means the YFS investigators) may permit access on case-by-case basis for scientific research, not however to individual participant level data, but aggregated statistical data, which cannot be traced back to the individual participants’ data. The FINFIT 2017: In line with the requirements of the ethics committees that approved this research, requests for access to data should be made in writing to the corresponding author (paivi.kolu@ukkinstituutti.fi). De-identified participant data can be made available, along with a data dictionary, to researchers who obtain ethical approval for their proposed analysis and provide a signed data-sharing contract, which enables data storage and analysis for a time-limited period.