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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.
Figures and Tables
Table 1
Characteristics of the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort 2002–2013 (NHIS-NSC 2002–2013)
Table 2
The costs for outpatient clinic examinations, surgery and laser treatment (2013 current costs)
Notes
References
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