Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of the study was to estimate the economic burden of stroke in Korea using post stroke disability grades and to measure smoking attributed economic burden. Methods: The disability grade of stroke patient was assessed for stroke patients who did not have a history of stroke before from a large cohort study in Korea. Treatment costs of patients were estimated by the National Health Insurance Service annual statistical report and care cost was estimated by the need of care defined by the assessed disability grades of patients. The population attributable fraction from WHO was used to calculate the proportion of cost due to smoking. Results: The study revealed that the cost of the stroke in 2015 was about 3.228 trillion won, while the care-giver cost was approximately 176 billion won. The cost of the smoking attributed stroke was about 724 billion won. Conclusion: This study is useful for estimating the cost of smoking considering the post-stroke disability and the results is important for achieving the national goal of extending healthy life from the Fourth National Health Promotion Plan.