Socioeconomic Costs of Glaucoma in Korea.

Ahn, Yongsun; Jee, Donghyun

doi:2018.59.7.665

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc > Volume 59(7); 2018 > Article

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2018;59(7):665-671.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2018.59.7.665 Published online July 15, 2018.

Socioeconomic Costs of Glaucoma in Korea.

Yongsun Ahn, Donghyun Jee

¹Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. donghyunjee@catholic.ac.kr
²Suncheon Public Health Center, Suncheon, Korea.

한국인 녹내장 환자의 사회적 비용 분석

안용선^1,2⋅지동현¹

가톨릭대학교 의과대학 안과학교실¹, 순천시 보건소²

Correspondence: Donghyun Jee,
Email: donghyunjee@catholic.ac.kr

Received: 29 March 2018 • Revised: 27 April 2018 • Accepted: 25 June 2018

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to estimate the socioeconomic costs of glaucoma in Korea. It is to be used as an academic reference regarding policy making for the introduction of glaucoma screening tests in the national health check-ups. METHODS: We estimated the socioeconomic costs of glaucoma from a societal perspective, which included medical, nonmedical, and productivity costs. The medical costs consisted of official and nonofficial medical costs, and the nonmedical costs consisted of transportation, time, and nursing costs. We used the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort 2002–2013 and the Korea Health Panel study. RESULTS: The socioeconomic costs of glaucoma were estimated to be 3,000 billion Korean won (KRW) in 2013. These total costs were divided into 1,539 billion KRW (51.3%) for medical costs, 1,292 billion KRW (43.1%) for nonmedical costs, and 168 billion KRW (5.6%) for productivity costs. CONCLUSIONS: Glaucoma is a large economic burden from a societal perspective. The nonmedical and productivity costs, as well as the medical costs are especially high. Because the disease costs of glaucoma are expected to increase continuously, political support for early detection of glaucoma should be considered.

Key Words: Costs;Disease costs;Glaucoma;Glaucoma screening;Socioeconomic costs