Use of Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factors for Diabetic Retnopathy: National Health Insurance Claims Data

Songhee Cho; Sang Jin Shin; Jae Kyung Suh; Hajin Tchoe; Jangmi Yang; Min Joo Kang; Donghyun Jee

doi:10.3341/jkos.2019.60.7.661

Journal List > J Korean Ophthalmol Soc > v.60(7) > 1129790

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Cho, Shin, Suh, Tchoe, Yang, Kang, and Jee: Use of Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factors for Diabetic Retnopathy: National Health Insurance Claims Data

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2019; 60(7): 661-666.

Published online: 15 July 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2019.60.7.661

Use of Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factors for Diabetic Retnopathy: National Health Insurance Claims Data

Songhee Cho, MS¹, Sang Jin Shin, PhD¹, Jae Kyung Suh, PhD¹, Hajin Tchoe, MS¹, Jangmi Yang, MS¹, Min Joo Kang, MS¹, Donghyun Jee, MD, PhD, MPH²

¹Office of Economic Evaluation Research, National Evidence Based Health Care Collaborating Agency, Seoul, Korea.

²Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, St. Vincent Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Address reprint requests to Donghyun Jee, MD, PhD, MPH. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, St. Vincent's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, #93 Jungbudae-ro, Paldal-gu, Suwon 16247, Korea. Tel: 82-31-249-7343, Fax: 82-31-249-6225, doj087@mail.catholic.ac.kr

Received 3 May 2018 Revised 19 July 2018 Accepted 19 June 2019

The Korean Ophthalmological Society

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the current use of intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

Methods

We determined the current number of diabetic retinopathy patients and their medical expenditure using National Health Insurance Service claims data (2007-2016). We also analyzed the medical costs of patients with diabetic retinopathy who received anti-VEGF treatment, including ranibizumab and aflibercept. We then evaluated aspects of the use of anti-VEGF injections, such as frequency and intervals, in newly diagnosed diabetic retinopathy patients who received anti-VEGF treatment, along with their medical costs.

Results

The number of patients with diabetic retinopathy was 397,956 in 2009 and 721,310 in 2016, a 1.8-fold increase over 8 years. Of these, the number of patients undergoing anti-VEGF therapy was 4,283 in 2015 and 4,270 in 2016. Of the diabetic retinopathy patients in 2016, the total medical cost of those treated with anti-VEGF was 1.5 billion won, and the average medical cost per person was 3,531,064 won.

Conclusions

Based on the National Health Insurance claims data, the use of ranibizumab and aflibercept is increasing. The results of this study suggest that diabetic retinopathy will become an important public health issue.

Keywords: Aflibercept, Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, Diabetic retinopathy, Ranibizumab

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Number of patients with diabetic retinopathy (2009–2016)

Values are presented as number (%).

Table 2

Cost of diabetic retinopathy treatment per person (2016, Korean won)

Table 3

Number of patients of diabetic retinopathy who received anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment

Table 4

Number of injections of ranibizumab and aflibercept in years

Table 5

Number of injections of ranibizumab or aflibercept per one year (2015-2016)

Values are presented as number (%).

Table 6

Cost of treatment of diabetic retinopathy per person (2016, Korean won)

Notes

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean government (MSIP) (No NRF-2016R1D1A1B03932606), and of the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency of Korea (NECA-A-17-003).

^{Conflicts of Interest} The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

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