• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2019

Background: Understanding the burden of disease is important to establish cost-effective treatment strategies and to allocate healthcare resources appropriately. However, little reliable information is available regarding the overall economic burden imposed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Korea. Methods: This study is a multicenter observational research on the COPD burden in Korea. Total COPD costs were comprised of three categories: direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect costs. For direct medical costs, institutional investigation was performed at 13 medical facilities mainly based on the claims data. For direct non-medical and indirect costs, site-based surveys were administered to the COPD patients during routine visits. Total costs were estimated using the COPD population defined in the recent report. Results: The estimated total costs were approximately 1,245 million US dollar (1,408 billion Korean won). Direct medical costs comprised approximately 20% of the total estimated costs. Of these, formal medical costs held more than 80%. As direct non-medical costs, nursing costs made up the largest percentage (39%) of the total estimated costs. Costs for COPD-related loss of productivity formed four fifths of indirect costs, and accounted for up to 33% of the total costs. Conclusion: This study shows for the first time the direct and indirect costs of COPD in Korea. The total costs were enormous, and the costs of nursing and lost productivity comprised approximately 70% of total costs. The results provide insight for an effective allocation of healthcare resources and to inform establishment of strategies to reduce national burden of COPD.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.10 no.1 s.19
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• pp.95-113
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• 1992

The purpose of this study was to figure out the urban establishing families' marriage costs and first housing costs. For the purpose 274 establishing families in Seoul and its metropolitan area were interviewed through the stadardized questionnares. Finally 264 questionnares were analyzed. The major findings were as follows ; 1) The total marriage costs of urban establishing families were very high and the contents were very ritualistic. In higher education group, the total costs were high relatively. This was the case in first housing costs. 2) Their marriage costs were very dependent on their parent, the dependency were stronger in high education group compared to the low. This ware the case in first housing costs. 3) The total marriage costs were higher than the first housing costs. This tendency was stronger in low education group compared to the high.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.11-19
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• 2003

This study intends to predict prospective defects and establish the plan of Preventive Maintenance through research and analysis of defect occurrences and their repair costs in the public equipment of ‘H’ apartment house from 1998 to 2001. According to results of the analysis, more than 90% of defects and their repair costs for 4 years of the building have occurred in heating, hot water and water supply equipments. In case of specific classification in each equipment, more than 60% of defects were found at hot water pipes and heating pipes, and their repair costs covered more than 60% of the total defect costs. After two repairs by ‘Preventive Maintenance’ had been performed in the year 1998, total defects and defects of each equipment each yew have increased in number from 1999 to 2001. But total repair costs and repair costs of each equipment have not increased as time has gone by, because repair costs have relationship with the price of materials and labor, the part of defect and the scale of repair.

• Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.398-406
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• 2018

Background: Hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin < 3.5 g/dL) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, costs associated with hypoalbuminemia remain unknown. This study investigated the effect of serum albumin on direct treatment costs, length of stay (LOS), and readmissions for primary and revision THA and TKA patients. Methods: All adult patients at a single institution undergoing primary or revision THA or TKA between January 2014 and December 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were stratified by preoperative serum albumin level. The primary outcome was total direct costs at index hospitalization. Secondary outcomes included LOS and readmission within 30 days. Multivariable regressions were utilized to adjust for demographics and comorbidities. Results: Of 3,785 patients, 114 (3.0%) had hypoalbuminemia. After adjustment, hypoalbuminemia was associated with a 16.2% increase in costs (${\beta}=0.162$; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.112 to 0.213; p < 0.001), representing an average cost increase of $3,383 (95% CI, $2,281 to $4,485) relative to costs for serum albumin > 4.5 g/dL. The increased total costs were significantly higher in revision ($4,322, p = 0.034) than in primary ($3,446, p < 0.001) procedures. In adjusted regression, each 1.0 g/dL increase in serum albumin yielded a 6.6% reduction in costs (${\beta}=-0.066$; 95% CI, -0.090 to -0.042]; p < 0.001), for average savings of $1,282 (95% CI, $759 to $1,806) per unit albumin. Adjusted regressions demonstrated that a 1-point increase in serum albumin reduced readmissions by 53% (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31-0.73; p = 0.001) and LOS by 0.6 days (${\beta}=-0.60$; 95% CI, -0.76 to -0.44; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Hypoalbuminemia is associated with increased total direct costs, LOS, and readmissions following primary and revision THA and TKA. Future efforts to predict and address total costs should take into consideration the patient's preoperative serum albumin levels.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.397-403
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• 2006

Objectives: We estimated the asthma-related health care utilization and costs in Korea from the insurer's and societal perspective. Methods: We extracted the insurance claims records from the Korea National Health Insurance claims database for determining the health care services provided to patients with asthma in 2003. Patients were defined as having asthma if they had ${\geq}$2 medical claims with diagnosis of asthma and they had been prescribed anti-asthma medicines, Annual claims records were aggeregated for each patient to produce patient-specific information on the total utilization and costs. The total asthma-related cost was the sum of the direct healthcare costs, the transportation costs for visits to health care providers and the patient's or caregivers' costs for the time spent on hospital or outpatient visits. Results: A total of 699,603people were identified as asthma patients, yielding an asthma prevalence of 1.47%. Each asthma patient had 7.56 outpatient visits, 0.01 ED visits and 0.02 admissions per year to treat asthma. The per-capita insurance-covered costs increased with age, from 128,276 Won for children aged 1 to 14 years to 270,729 Won for those aged 75 or older. The total cost in the nation varied from 121,865 million to 174,949 million Won depending on the perspectives. From a societal perspective, direct health care costs accounted for 84.9%, transportation costs for 15.1 % and time costs for 9.2% of the total costs. Conclusions: Hospitalizations and ED visits represented only a small portion of the asthma-related costs. Most of the societal burden was attributed to direct medical expenditures, with outpatient visits and medications emerging as the single largest cost components.

• Korean Journal of Schizophrenia Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2019

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of type 1 diabetes in patients with schizophrenia and their total medical costs and risk of hospitalization. Methods: This study used Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data in Korea. To examine total medical costs and risk of hospitalization, we selected 1,510 subjects with schizophrenia (half with and half without type 1 diabetes) that were 1:1 matched via propensity score matching. In health care system perspective, total medical costs included out-of-pocket and insurer's costs. Logistic regression models were used to examine the risk of hospitalization. Results: The prevalence of type 1 diabetes in patients with schizophrenia was 3.87 per 1,000 person year. Among patients with schizophrenia, the amount of total average medical costs and hospitalization costs in patients with type 1 diabetes was 1.49 and 1.59 times higher than those in patients without it, respectively. The odds of hospitalization were higher among patients with type 1 diabetes compared with those without it (odds ratio, OR=1.97 ; 95% CI 1.60-2.43). Conclusion: This study showed that medical costs and risk of hospitalization were higher in schizophrenia patients with type 1 diabetes. Therefore, these individuals may require specific care programs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3767-3772
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• 2012

Objective: We estimated the total medical costs incurred during the 5 years following a cancer diagnosis and annual medical use status for the six most prevalent cancers in Korea. Methods: From January 1 to December 31, 2006, new patients registered with the six most prevalent cancers (stomach, liver, lung, breast, colon, and thyroid) were randomly selected from the Korea Central Cancer Registry, with 30% of patients being drawn from each cancer group. For the selected patients, cost data were generated using National Health Insurance claims data from the time of cancer diagnosis in 2006 to December 31, 2010. The total number of patients selected was 28,509. Five-year total medical costs by tumor site and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) stage at the time of diagnosis, and annual total medical costs from diagnosis, were estimated. All costs were calculated as per-patient net costs. Results: Mean 5-year net costs per patient varied widely, from $5,647 for thyroid cancer to $20,217 for lung cancer. Advanced stage at diagnosis was associated with a 1.8-2.5-fold higher total cost, and the total medical cost was highest during the first year following diagnosis and decreased by the third or fourth year. Conclusions: The costs of cancer care were substantial and varied by tumor site, annual phase, and stage at diagnosis. This indicates the need for increased prevention, earlier diagnosis, and new therapies that may assist in reducing medical costs.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.82-89
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• 2018

Purpose: Early detection of gastric cancer is important to improve prognosis. Early detection enables local treatment, such as endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Therefore, we investigated whether early detection of gastric cancer could reduce healthcare costs by comparison according to stage and treatment modalities. Materials and Methods: Medical care costs were investigated according to tumor stage and initial treatment modality in 1,188 patients newly diagnosed with gastric cancer at 7 medical institutions from December 2011 to June 2012. Total medical care costs during the first-year after diagnosis (total first-year costs) were examined, including the costs of initial treatment, post-initial treatment, and inpatient and outpatient visits. Results: Stage I (75.3%) was the most common cancer stage. ESD was the second most common treatment following surgery. Total first-year costs increased significantly from stages I to IV. The costs of initial treatment and post-initial treatment were lowest in patients with stage I cancer. Among patients with stage I cancer, total first-year costs were significantly lower when treated by ESD; in particular, initial ESD treatment costs were much lower than others. Conclusions: The cost of healthcare has increased significantly with increasing cancer stages. ESD can greatly reduce medical care costs of gastric cancer. Thus, early detection of gastric cancer is important to reduce healthcare costs.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.62-71
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• 2024

The Study analyzed the effect of private education costs and housing prices on the total fertility rates in 16 metropolitan cities in Korea from 2009 to 2021, and estimated the contribution rates of each variable on the decrease in the total fertility rate. Using a dynamic panel data model considering the time series correlation of the total fertility rates, the total fertility rates for the year was positively (+) affected by the total fertility rates of the previous year, and the increase in apartment sales and Jeonse prices in the previous year reduced the total fertility rates. In addition, the increase in private education costs per capita in the previous year was analyzed to consistently reduce the total fertility rates.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.139-150
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify nursing service costs associated with all health care costs incurred by the institution. Methods: This study was an empirical case study research in which the nursing cost was separated from total medical cost. The nursing cost index was calculated through a cost allocation method after summarizing costs for personnel, raw materials and administration of each department in one public hospital. The 2014 budget plan, published in 'Public Hospitals Alert', was used as data and the data were analyzed using the Microsoft Office EXCEL 2013 program. Results: When comparing total medical costs and nursing costs, the nursing cost were 27.14% of the total medical cost. The nursing cost per nurse per hour was calculated as \29,128 The nursing cost per inpatient per day was calculated as \157,970, and the administration cost per patient was calculated as \133,710. Conclusion: The results of the research present the process of cost allocation of specific cost elements in the hospital and evidence for administrative costs which in the past have been only vaguely formulated. These are the significant implications of this study.