영문초록
Background: This study was conducted to estimate the current burden and health care utility status for newly diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in Korea in 2009. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) data in 2009. We defined newly diagnosed COPD patients who had the first ICD code of COPD (j41-j44, except j430), and who have been prescribed one kind of COPD medication at least two times in 2009. Results: Among the 249,140 new diagnosed COPD patients included in the 2009 HIRA data, 60% are men and the mean age is 68.9 (±10.7). 8.5% and 20.9% of these COPD patients visited Emergency department (ED) and hospitalized respectively. 72.8% of the patients received methyxanthine, 27.5%, 25.9%, 23.7% received ICS+LABA, systemic steroid, LAMA respectively. The mean of the direct total medical cost per patient is 2,866 (±996.5) US dollars per year. Most of these direct costs are from hospitalization. The mean number of the OPD visit is 6.5 times per year and the mean duration of hospitalization is 17.8 days per year. The most common co-morbidities are hypertension (27.7%), diabetes mellitus (13.0%) and ischemic heart disease (8.3%). Conclusion: According to this survey, most of COPD patients stillsuffer from the economic burden in Korea. We need more optimal strategies to treat COPD patients to minimize their personal and economic burden. This study was supported by a grant from the Korea Healthcare Technology R&D Project, Ministry for Health and Welfare(A102065).