Korean Diabetes J.  2008 Aug;32(4):358-365. 10.4093/kdj.2008.32.4.358.

Clinical Characteristics and Direct Medical Costs of Type 2 Diabetic Patients

• Moon EJ
• Jo YE
• Park TC
• Kim YK
• Jung SH
• Kim HJ
• Kim DJ
• Chung YS
• Lee KW

• KMID: 2029822
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4093/kdj.2008.32.4.358

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an expensive chronic metabolic disorder and its prevalence has been increasing rapidly in South Korea, owing to a westernized lifestyle. We analyzed the annual direct medical costs attributable to type 2 diabetes and its chronic complications in Korea retrospectively.
METHODS
We randomly selected 1,051 patients with type 2 diabetes who visited Ajou University Hospital as an outpatient in 2005. Clinical characteristics, duration of diabetes, and microvascular and macrovascular complications were assessed from a medical chart review. The annual direct medical costs included insurance covered and uncovered medical costs.
RESULTS
Of the 1,051 patients with type 2 diabetes, 48.2% had at least one microvascular complication, 5.6% had at least one macrovascular complication, and 12.4% of the patients had both microvascular and macrovascular complications. The average annual direct medical cost was found to be 3,348,488won per patient. In patients with microvascular complications, the total cost of management was increased 1.4 times compared to those without complications. Direct medical costs for patients with macrovascular complications were 2.1-fold as high as patients with no complications. Those patients with both microvascular and macrovascular complications, increased costs by 3.1-fold over those without complications.
CONCLUSION
Chronic complications have a substantial impact on the direct medical costs of type 2 diabetes. The prevention of chronic diabetic complications will not only influence the mortality and morbidity of patients with type 2 diabetes, but also potentially reduce medical costs.

Keyword

Direct medical cost; Macrovascular complication; Microvascular complication; Type 2 diabetes

MeSH Terms

Diabetes Complications
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
Humans
Insurance
Korea
Life Style
Outpatients
Prevalence
Republic of Korea

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Annual average costs per patient by complication. *P < 0.05 when compared to none. †P < 0.05 when compared to patients with microvascular complication. ‡P < 0.05 when compared to patients with macrovascular complication.

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  Fig. 2 Annual average costs per patient by glucose control method. *P < 0.05 when compared to Diet & Exercise. †P < 0.05 when compared to OHA. OHA, oral hypoglycemic agents.

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  Fig. 3 Annual average costs per patient by diabetic duration. *P < 0.05 when compared to D < 5. †P < 0.05 when compared to 5 ≤ D < 10. D, duration.

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