Endocrinol Metab.  2014 Sep;29(3):257-269. 10.3803/EnM.2014.29.3.257.

Cost-of-Illness Trends Associated with Thyroid Disease in Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Health Insurance Policy Research Institute, National Health Insurance Service, Seoul, Korea. lsm8711@nhis.or.kr
  • 2Daegu Haany University School of Public Health, Gyeongsan, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study is to analyze the scale of and trends associated with the cost-of-illness of thyroid disease in Korea at 2-year intervals during the last 10 years for which data are available.
METHODS
Cost-of-illness was estimated in terms of direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include direct medical costs due to hospitalization, outpatient and pharmacy sectors, transportation, and care-giver costs. Indirect costs include future income loss due to premature death and loss of productivity as a result of absence from work.
RESULTS
The cost-of-illness of thyroid disease in Korea was estimated at 224.2 billion won in 2002, 303.4 billion won in 2004, 400.3 billion won in 2006, 570.4 billion won in 2008, and 762.2 billion won in 2010. For example, the cost-of-illness of thyroid disease in 2010 was 3.4 times greater compared to 2002. The direct cost of the total cost-of-illness was 69.7%, which accounted for the highest proportion of costs. Cost-of-illness for individuals between the ages of 30 and 50 accounted for the greatest share of costs.
CONCLUSION
The cost-of-illness of thyroid disease was relatively large in economically active age groups, and demonstrated a very rapid growth rate compared to other major diseases in Korea. Therefore, we suggest nationwide recognition of the importance of prevention and management of thyroid disease and prioritization of the management of thyroid disease among current and future health promotion policies in Korea.

Keyword

Thyroid Diseases; Direct cost; Indirect cost; Cost of illness

MeSH Terms

Cost of Illness
Efficiency
Health Promotion
Hospitalization
Humans
Korea
Mortality, Premature
Outpatients
Pharmacy
Thyroid Diseases*
Transportation

Cited by  1 articles

Triennial Report of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2015 to 2017
Eun-Jung Rhee, Hey Yeon Jang, Won-Young Lee
Endocrinol Metab. 2018;33(2):195-201.    doi: 10.3803/EnM.2018.33.2.195.


Reference

1. Kim ES. Targeted therapies in thyroid cancer. Endocrinol Metab. 2010; 25:94–97.
2. The Korea Central Cancer Registry, National Cancer Center. Annual report of cancer statistics in Korea in 2010 [Internet]. Koyang: National Cancer Center;2012. cited 2013 Mar 29. Available from: http://www.korea.kr/archive/expDocView.do?docId=33637.
3. Choi JY, Youn YK. Vision of thyroid surgery: past, present and future. J Korean Thyroid Assoc. 2012; 5:1–5.
4. Hollowell JG, Staehling NW, Flanders WD, Hannon WH, Gunter EW, Spencer CA, Braverman LE. Serum TSH, T(4), and thyroid antibodies in the United States population (1988 to 1994): National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002; 87:489–499.
5. Choi HS, Park YJ, Kim HK, Choi SH, Lim S, Park DJ, Jang HC, Cho NH, Cho BY. Prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism in two population based-cohort: Ansung and KLoSHA cohort in Korea. J Korean Thyroid Assoc. 2010; 3:32–40.
6. Yi KH, Park YJ, Koong SS, Kim JH, Na DG, Ryu JS, Park SY, Park IA, Baek CH, Shong YK, Lee YD, Lee J, Lee JH, Chung JH, Jung CK, Choi SH, Cho BY. Revised Korean thyroid association management guidelines for patients with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg. 2011; 54:8–36.
7. Kim JS. Postoperative quality of life in patients with papillary thyroid cancer. J Korea Acad Industr Coop Soc. 2011; 12:1260–1269.
8. Crevenna R, Zettinig G, Keilani M, Posch M, Schmidinger M, Pirich C, Nuhr M, Wolzt M, Quittan M, Fialka-Moser V, Dudczak R. Quality of life in patients with non-metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer under thyroxine supplementation therapy. Support Care Cancer. 2003; 11:597–603.
9. Tagay S, Herpertz S, Langkafel M, Erim Y, Bockisch A, Senf W, Gorges R. Health-related quality of life, depression and anxiety in thyroid cancer patients. Qual Life Res. 2006; 15:695–703.
10. Park CS, Kang HY, Kwon I, Kang DR, Jung HY. Cost-of-illness study of asthma in Korea: estimated from the Korea National Health Insurance Claims Database. J Prev Med Public Health. 2006; 39:397–403.
11. Lee S, Chung W, Hyun KR. Socioeconomic costs of liver disease in Korea. Korean J Hepatol. 2011; 17:274–291.
12. Jung HK, Jang B, Kim YH, Park J, Park SY, Nam MH, Choi MG. Health care costs of digestive diseases in Korea. Korean J Gastroenterol. 2011; 58:323–331.
13. Jung YH. Cost of illness and health-friendly fiscal policy. Health Welf Policy Forum. 2009; 156:50–61.
14. Chung HK. Environmental factors and thyroid dysfunction. Endocrinol Metab. 2012; 27:191–193.
15. Drummond MF, Sculpher MJ, Torrance GW, O'Brien BJ, Stoddart GL. Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press;2005. p. 17–25. p. 55–72.
16. Park MJ, Choi YS, Tae YH, Choi JH, Baek SJ, Lee HY. Survey on the benefit coverage rate of National Health Insurance in 2010. Seoul: National Health Insurance Service;2011. p. 63–82.
17. National Health Insurance Service. National Health Insurance Statistical Yearbook [Internet]. Seoul: National Health Insurance Service;c2011. cited 2013 Apr 10. Available from: http://www.nhis.or.kr/portal/site/main/MENU_WBDDG02/.
18. Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. A Report of Korea health panel survey 2008 (1). Seoul: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs;2010. p. 106–135.
19. Statistics Korea. Annual report on the consumer price index [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2014. updated 2014 Aug 1. cited 2013 Apr 24. Available from: http://kosis.kr/statHtml/statHtml.do?orgId=101&tblId=DT_1J0A112&conn_path=I2.
20. Statistics Korea. Annual report on the cause of death statistics [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2014. updated 2013 Sep 25. cited 2013 May 3. Available from: http://kosis.kr/statHtml/statHtml.do?orgId=101&tblId=DT_1B34E07&conn_path=I2.
21. Statistics Korea. Life tables for Korea [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2014. updated 2013 Dec 5. cited 2013 May 3. Available from: http://kosis.kr/statHtml/statHtml.do?orgId=101&tblId=DT_1B42&conn_path=I2.
22. Statistics Korea. Annual report on the economically active population survey. [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2014. updated 2014 Jul 16. cited 2013 May 14. Available from: http://kosis.kr/statHtml/statHtml.do?orgId=101&tblId=DT_1DA7012&conn_path=I2.
23. Statistics Korea. Survey report on labor conditions by employment type [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2014. updated 2009 Jun 12. cited 2013 May 14. Available from: http://kosis.kr/statHtml/statHtml.do?orgId=118&tblId=DT_PAYM002&conn_path=I2.
24. Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Current economic trends [Internet]. Sejong: Ministry of Strategy and Finance;2013. updated 2013 Apr 9. cited 2013 May 20. Available from: http://www.korea.kr/archive/expDocView.do?docId=33865.
25. Public Health Agency of Canada. Economic burden of illness in Canada, 1998 [Internet]. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada;c2002. updated 2013 Apr 3. cited 2014 Aug 6. Available from: http://www.publications.gc.ca/site/eng/448770/publication.html.
26. Noh IC, Suh MH, Kim YR. Socioeconomic costs and policy issues of alcohol drinking. Seoul: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs;1997. p. 80.
27. Jung YH, Ko SJ. An estimation of economic costs of 5 major diseases. Health Welf Policy Forum. 2003; 79:55–65.
28. Jung YH, Ko S. The socioeconomic cost of diseases in Korea. J Prev Med Public Health. 2006; 39:499–504.
Full Text Links
  • ENM
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr