A Study on the Socio-economic Characteristics of Magnetic Resonance Image(MRI) Uses in Korea

우리나라 MRI 이용의 사회경제적 특성

In recent years there has been a rapid influx of high cost MRI equipment into Korea. This diffusion has raised concerns about the changes it will bring for the health care utilization. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify socio-economic characteristics of MRI uses in Korea. A structured questionnaire was designed for this purpose, and 1, 091 users were surveyed at the 35 MRI units of 33 hospitals during a week, sometimes March 1992. The study reveals that high cost technology such as MRI, CT scanner is so prevalent in Korea. This is particularly the case in metropolitan areas. Among others, Seoul has the highest percentage of MRI equipment, 51.05%, Pusan 12.10% and Kwangju 11.9%. Unfortunately, most high cost technology equipments are foreign products. Thus, hospitals with such a high cost technology have difficulties in maintenance of the equipment. The average performance of MRI equipment has declined from 10.2 cases per day in 1988 to 7.16 cases in March 1992. Due to the rapid increase, the performance of MRI equipment seems to be deterioration. Male usere are dominant in the case of MRI use. The utilization rate has positively increased with the rise of educational level of users. The same is true for the level of income; the MRI utilization rate by income level shows that it is negatively proportional to income, which indicates that the poor have difficulties in the use of high cost technology. Particularly, the cost of MRI is so high that ordinary patients are unable to pay for it. For example, 86.3% of respondents have answered that the cost is too high even though they are insured by health insurance. This is the first empirical study on the use status of MRI. The information obtained in this study is sufficient to maintain that the Korean health insurance programme is urgently in need of improving the insurance benefit schemes. The easiest way to do this is to include provision of high cost technology service into the benefit package.