Department of Health and Care Administration, The Cyber University of Korea, 106 Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03051, Korea.
Department of Health Policy Research, Daejeon Public Health Policy Institute, 282 Munhwa-ro, Jung-gu, Daejeon 35015, Korea.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 May 9;17(9):3308. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093308.
The aim of this study was to measure the magnitude and distribution of a Korean's lifetime dental expenses depending on age and sex, by constructing a hypothetical lifetime and life table of survival. Additionally, we estimated the difference in life expectancy between men and women and its impact on dental expenses. We used the 2015 Korea Health Panel Survey to calculate the total dental expenditure, including expenses paid directly by patients and those paid by insurers. We generated survival profiles to simulate dental expenses during a typical lifetime (from birth to age 95) using the abridged life table (five-year intervals for age groups) in 2015 from the South Korean Statistical Information Service. We independently calculated the remaining dental expenses for survivors of all ages. The results showed that an estimate of average lifetime dental expenditure was $31,851 per capita: $31,587 for men and $32,318 for women. Nearly 33% of the average per capita lifetime dental expenditure was attributable to the longer life expectancy of women, with no statistically significant difference in lifetime dental expenditure between men and women. Many survivors incurred 70% of their lifetime dental expenses before age 65. The results highlighted the need for policymakers to address spending on age-specific dental care owing to extended life expectancy, given the disproportionate share of healthcare resources supporting the elderly.
本研究旨在通过构建一个假设的生存寿命表来衡量韩国人一生中按年龄和性别划分的牙科费用的规模和分布。此外，我们还估计了男性和女性预期寿命的差异及其对牙科费用的影响。我们使用 2015 年韩国健康面板调查来计算总牙科支出，包括患者直接支付的费用和保险公司支付的费用。我们使用韩国统计信息服务局 2015 年的简略寿命表（每五年为一个年龄组）生成生存状况图，以模拟典型一生中（从出生到 95 岁）的牙科费用。我们独立计算了所有年龄段幸存者的剩余牙科费用。结果表明，人均终生牙科支出的估计值为 31851 美元：男性为 31587 美元，女性为 32318 美元。女性预期寿命较长导致平均人均终生牙科支出的近 33%归因于此，男性和女性的终生牙科支出没有统计学上的显著差异。许多幸存者在 65 岁之前就已经花费了他们一生中 70%的牙科费用。研究结果强调，鉴于老年人在医疗保健资源中所占的不成比例的份额，政策制定者需要解决由于预期寿命延长而导致的特定年龄段牙科保健支出问题。
