Graduate School of Clinical Pharmacy, Sookmyung Women's University, Hyochangwongil 52, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-742, South Korea.
Rheumatol Int. 2012 Sep;32(9):2893-9. doi: 10.1007/s00296-011-2117-2. Epub 2011 Sep 7.
The purposes of this study are to investigate medical resource utilization and medical costs of Korean rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to analyze predictors in relation to medical costs. National claims data on medical treatment were analyzed for the 151,472 RA patients in 2009. For outpatients, the mean annual number of visits was 32.5, and the mean annual total outpatient care costs were 2.0 million KRW (US$1,594) per patient. On the other hand, the mean annual length of stay of inpatients was 22.2 days, and the mean annual total inpatient care costs were 3.8 million KRW (US$3,013). Average annual total medical costs per patient for all of the RA patients were 2.9 million KRW (US$2,310). Total medical costs consisted of 26.1% outpatients' costs, 25.4% inpatient, and 48.6% medication costs, making medication costs a predominant cost driver. In the multiple regression analysis, biologic use was an important cost factor in relation to the annual total medical costs. This study provides information on the cost of illness of RA with the population-based representative RA patients in Korea, which had not been reported until now.
本研究旨在调查韩国类风湿关节炎（RA）患者的医疗资源利用和医疗费用情况，并分析与医疗费用相关的预测因素。对 2009 年 151472 名 RA 患者的国家报销数据进行了分析。对于门诊患者，平均每年就诊次数为 32.5 次，每位患者每年的门诊总护理费用为 200 万韩元（1594 美元）。另一方面，住院患者的平均住院天数为 22.2 天，每年的住院总护理费用为 380 万韩元（3013 美元）。所有 RA 患者的年平均总医疗费用为 290 万韩元（2310 美元）。总医疗费用由 26.1%的门诊费用、25.4%的住院费用和 48.6%的药物费用组成，药物费用是主要的成本驱动因素。在多元回归分析中，生物制剂的使用是与年度总医疗费用相关的重要成本因素。这项研究提供了有关韩国基于人群代表性 RA 患者疾病负担的信息，这在以前尚未报道过。
