Use of Western Medicine and Traditional Korean Medicine for Joint Disorders: A Retrospective Comparative Analysis Based on Korean Nationwide Insurance Data

Boyoung Jung, Sukjin Bae, Soyoon Kim, Boyoung Jung, Sukjin Bae, Soyoon Kim

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the usage of Western medicine and traditional Korean medicine for treating joint disorders in Korea. Data of claims from all medical institutions with billing statements filed to HIRA from 2011 to 2014 for the four most frequent joint disorders were used for the analysis. Data from a total of 1,100,018 patients who received medical services from 2011 to 2014 were analyzed. Descriptive statistics are presented as type of care and hospital type. All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS for Windows version 21. Of the 1,100,018 patients with joint disorders, 456,642 (41.5%) were males and 643,376 (58.5%) were females. Per diem costs of hospitalization in Western medicine clinics and traditional Korean medicine clinics were approximately 160,000 KRW and 50,000 KRW, respectively. Among costs associated with Western medicine, physiotherapy cost had the largest proportion (28.78%). Among costs associated with traditional Korean medicine, procedural costs and treatment accounted for more than 70%, followed by doctors' fees (21.54%). There were distinct differences in patterns of medical care use and cost of joint disorders at the national level in Korea. This study is expected to contribute to management decisions for musculoskeletal disease involving joint disorders.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study sample.

References

    1. Brooks P. M. The burden of musculoskeletal disease—a global perspective. Clinical Rheumatology. 2006;25(6):778–781. doi: 10.1007/s10067-006-0240-3.
    1. Oh I.-H., Yoon S.-J., Seo H.-Y., Kim E.-J., Kim Y. A. The economic burden of musculoskeletal disease in Korea: A cross sectional study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2011;12, article no. 157 doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-12-157.
    1. Hur N., Choi C., Uhm W., Bae S. The Prevalence and Trend of Arthritis in Korea: Results from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. The Journal of the Korean Rheumatism Association. 2008;15(1):11–26. doi: 10.4078/jkra.2008.15.1.11.
    1. Choi H., Han W., Im J., Baek H. The Prevalence and Clinical Features of Musculoskeletal Diseases in Incheon: Results from Chronic Disease Management Surveys. The Journal of the Korean Rheumatism Association. 2009;16(4):281–290. doi: 10.4078/jkra.2009.16.4.281.
    1. Brage S., Nygard J. F., Tellnes G. The gender gap in musculoskeletal-related long term sickness absence in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine. 1997;26(1):34–43. doi: 10.1177/14034948980260010901.
    1. Woolf A. D., Åkesson K. Understanding the burden of musculoskeletal conditions. British Medical Journal. 2001;322(7294):1079–1080. doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7294.1079.
    1. Bodeker G. Lessons on integration from the developing world's experience. British Medical Journal. 2001;322(7279):164–167. doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7279.164.
    1. Ahn Y.-J., Shin J.-S., Lee J., et al. Evaluation of use and cost of medical care of common lumbar disorders in Korea: Cross-sectional study of Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service National Patient Sample data. BMJ Open. 2016;6(9) doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012432.e012432
    1. Kim J., Son M. National Health Insurance Statistical Yearbook. Seoul: Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and National Health Insurance Service, 2017.
    1. Badley E. M., Rasooly I., Webster G. K. Relative importance of musculoskeletal disorders as a cause of chronic health problems, disability, and health care utilization: Findings from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey. The Journal of Rheumatology. 1994;21(3):505–514.
    1. Coyte P. C., Asche C. V., Croxford R., Chan B. The economic cost of musculoskeletal disorders in Canada. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 1998;11(5):315–325. doi: 10.1002/art.1790110503.
    1. Lubeck D. P. The costs of musculoskeletal disease: Health needs assessment and health economics. Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology. 2003;17(3):529–539. doi: 10.1016/S1521-6942(03)00023-8.
    1. Joo H., Lee Y. J., Shin J., et al. Medical service use and usual care of common shoulder disorders in Korea: a cross-sectional study using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service National Patient Sample. BMJ Open. 2017;7(7) doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-015848.e015848
    1. Gill J. M., Mainous A. G., III The Role of Provider Continuity in Preventing Hospitalizations. Archives of Family Medicine. 1998;7(4):352–357. doi: 10.1001/archfami.7.4.352.
    1. Yelin E., Callahan L. F. Special article the economic cost and social and psychological impact of musculoskeletal conditions. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 1995;38(10):1351–1362. doi: 10.1002/art.1780381002.
    1. Weiss L. J., Blustein J. Faithful patients: The effect of long-term physician-patient relationships on the costs and use of health care by older Americans. American Journal of Public Health. 1996;86(12):1742–1747. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.86.12.1742.
    1. McLeod J., McMurray J., Walker J. D., Heckman G. A., Stolee P. Care transitions for older patients with musculoskeletal disorders: continuity from the providers’ perspective. International Journal of Integrated Care. 2011;11(2) doi: 10.5334/ijic.555.
    1. Kim L., Kim J.-A., Kim S. A guide for the utilization of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service National Patient Samples. Epidemiology and Health. 2014;36 doi: 10.4178/epih/e2014008.e2014008
    1. Felson D. T., Naimark A., Anderson J., Kazis L., Castelli W., Meenan R. F. The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in the elderly. The Framingham Osteoarthritis Study. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 1987;30(8):914–918. doi: 10.1002/art.1780300811.
    1. Tellnes G., Bjerkedal T. Epidemiology of sickness certification - A methodological approach based on a study from Buskerud county in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine. 1989;17(3):245–251. doi: 10.1177/140349488901700305.
    1. Sundararajan V., Henderson T., Perry C., Muggivan A., Quan H., Ghali W. A. New ICD-10 version of the Charlson comorbidity index predicted in-hospital mortality. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2004;57(12):1288–1294. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2004.03.012.
    1. Quan H., Sundararajan V., Halfon P., et al. Coding algorithms for defining comorbidities in ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 administrative data. Medical Care. 2005;43(11):1130–1139. doi: 10.1097/01.mlr.0000182534.19832.83.
    1. Sloane P., Egelhoff C. The relationship of continuity of care to age, sex, and race. Journal of Family Practice. 1983;16(2):402–405.
    1. Fleming M. F., Bentz E. J., Shahady E. J., Abrantes A., Bolick C. Effect of case mix on provider continuity. Journal of Family Practice. 1986;23(2):137–140.
    1. Lawrence R. C., Helmick C. G., Arnett F. C., et al. Estimates of the prevalence of arthritis and selected musculoskeletal disorders in the United States. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 1998;41(5):778–799.
    1. Kim J., Son M. National Health Insurance Statistical Yearbook. Seoul: Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and National Health Insurance Service. 2014.
    1. Kim H.-A., Kim S., Seo Y. I., et al. The epidemiology of total knee replacement in South Korea: national registry data. Rheumatology. 2008;47(1):88–91. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kem308.
    1. Kellgren J. H., Lawrence J. S. Radiological assessment of osteo-arthrosis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 1957;16(4):494–501. doi: 10.1136/ard.16.4.494.
    1. Woolf A. D., Pfleger B. Burden of major musculoskeletal conditions. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2003;81(9):646–656.
    1. Han K., Ha I., Lee J. Application of Health Care Big data and Necessity of Traditional Korean Medicine Data Registry. Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research. 2017;17(1):46–53. doi: 10.15429/jkomor.2017.17.1.46.
    1. Kang X., Fransen M., Zhang Y., et al. The high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in a rural chinese population: the wuchuan osteoarthritis study. Arthritis Care Research. 2009;61(5):641–647. doi: 10.1002/art.24464.
    1. Kim I., Kim H. A., Seo Y.-I., Song Y. W., Jeong J.-Y., Kim D. H. The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in elderly community residents in Korea. Journal of Korean Medical Science. 2010;25(2):293–298. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2010.25.2.293.
    1. Blagojevic M., Jinks C., Jeffery A., Jordan K. P. Risk factors for onset of osteoarthritis of the knee in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 2010;18(1):24–33. doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2009.08.010.
    1. Choi Y.-J., Kang S.-H., Kim Y.-I. Association of higher continuity of primary care with lower risk of hospitalization among children and adolescent patients. Korean Journal of Health Policy and Administration. 2008;18:85–107.
    1. Gill J. M., Mainous 3rd A. G., Diamond J. J., Lenhard M. J. Impact of provider continuity on quality of care for persons with diabetes mellitus. Annals of Family Medicine. 2003;1(3):162–170. doi: 10.1370/afm.22.
    1. Christakis D. A., Mell L., Koepsell T. D., Zimmerman F. J., Connell F. A. Association of lower continuity of care with greater risk of emergency department use and hospitalization in children. Pediatrics. 2001;107(3):524–529. doi: 10.1542/peds.107.3.524.
    1. Sudo A., Miyamoto N., Horikawa K., et al. Prevalence and risk factors for knee osteoarthritis in elderly Japanese men and women. Journal of Orthopaedic Science. 2008;13(5):413–418. doi: 10.1007/s00776-008-1254-2.
    1. Zhang Y., Xu L., Nevitt M. C., et al. “Comparison of the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis between the elderly Chinese population in Beijing and whites in the United States: The Beijing Osteoarthritis Study. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2001;44(9):2065–2071.
    1. Du H., Chen S.-L., Bao C.-D., et al. Prevalence and risk factors of knee osteoarthritis in Huang-Pu District, Shanghai, China. Rheumatology International. 2005;25(8):585–590. doi: 10.1007/s00296-004-0492-7.
    1. Kim J. Basis of using health insurance data, strategic, and assignment from the computation of health statistic. 2005.
    1. Woolf A. D. The bone and joint decade 2000-2010. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2000;59(2):81–82. doi: 10.1136/ard.59.2.81.
    1. Cross M., Smith E., Hoy D., et al. The global burden of hip and knee osteoarthritis: estimates from the global burden of disease 2010 study. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2014;73(7):1323–1330. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204763.
    1. Hong J. S., Kang H. C., Kim J. Continuity of care for elderly patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Korea. Journal of Korean Medical Science. 2010;25(9):1259–1271. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2010.25.9.1259.
    1. Sokol M. C., McGuigan K. A., Verbrugge R. R., Epstein R. S. Impact of medication adherence on hospitalization risk and healthcare cost. Medical Care. 2005;43(6):521–530. doi: 10.1097/.
    1. Peat G., McCarney R., Croft P. Knee pain and osteoarthritis in older adults: a review of community burden and current use of primary health care. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2001;60(2):91–97. doi: 10.1136/ard.60.2.91.
    1. Song Y. J. The south korean health care system. Japan Medical Association Journal. 2009;52(3):206–209.
    1. Yoon C.-H., Lee S.-J., Choo S., Moon O.-R., Park J.-H. Continuity of care of patient with diabetes and its affecting factors in Korea. Journal of Preventive Medicine & Public Health. 2007;40(1):51–58. doi: 10.3961/jpmph.2007.40.1.51.
    1. Hong J., Kim J., Kang H. Continuity of Ambulatory Care among Adult Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Its Associated Factors in Korea. Korean Journal of Health Policy and Administration. 2009;19(2):51–70. doi: 10.4332/KJHPA.2009.19.2.051.

Source: PubMed

Sponsorer og samarbejdspartnere

Medicinske tilstande

Narkotikainterventioner

3
Abonner