The research team of Professor Hyun-ah Kim of Rheumatology Department of Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital and Professor Kyung-Min Son (corresponding author) of Rheumatology Department of Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital conducted a study on’Hospital Visits and Medical Expenses of Gout and Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Using National Health Insurance Data from 2010 to 2017′. It was revealed on the 5th that it has confirmed this fact. This paper is the first study in Korea to analyze the hospital visits of gout patients, and was recently approved for publication in the Korean Journal of Internal Medicine, a SCIE-level journal.
As a result of the analysis, the annual prevalence of gout patients increased 1.6 times from 2433 per 100,000 in 2010 to 3917 in 2017, and the male to female ratio was 9 times higher than that of females. The number of patients who visited the emergency room due to gout increased 3.3 times from 6.28 per 100,000 in 2010 to 21 in 2017.
This was significantly higher than the 1.7-fold increase in outpatient treatment and 1.3-fold increase in inpatient treatment for gout patients during the same period. By year, it increased 51% year-on-year, the largest increase in 2016, and by age, the number of patients in the emergency room increased by 4.5 times and 3.6 times for those in their thirties and 3.6 times. In particular, emergency room treatment costs for gout patients decreased by 45% from an average of 550,000 won per session in 2010 to 300,000 won in 2017.However, due to an increase in the number of patients, the total cost during the same period increased 2.7 times from 14.9 billion won to 40.3 billion won, resulting in national medical care due to gout. It was confirmed that the cost is increasing significantly.
The research team also analyzed emergency room visits of patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, another representative chronic disease, for a more accurate comparative analysis. During the same period, the number of patients who visited the emergency room for seropositive rheumatoid arthritis increased only 1.5 times, and there was no significant difference in medical costs per treatment.
Professor Hyun-ah Kim (Chairman of the Gout Research Association) said, “The use of the emergency room for chronically ill patients is evidence that the usual disease management is not working well. In this study, the prevalence of gout patients increased 1.6 times over 8 years, but the proportion of gout patients who visited the emergency room during the same period of time is evidence Is 3.3 times higher, and it has been confirmed that the number of patients who do not normally manage gout properly is increasing. “Compared to patients with rheumatoid arthritis, which is the same chronic disease, we identify the characteristics of gout patients who have difficulty in health management, and manage gout in the country. We have to build the system,” he explained.
Professor Gyeong-min Sohn said, “Gout is a disease that causes chronic inflammation due to the accumulation of uric acid produced in the process of decomposing purines contained in proteins in food and the process of cell death in our body. It is caused by excessive drinking and westernized eating habits. It is easy to occur, and it seems to be for this reason that the use of emergency rooms among young gout patients in their 30s to 40s in this study increased. “The most basic treatment for gout is to avoid excessive drinking or overeating and exercise regularly through diet and lifestyle correction. It’s important to maintain a proper weight over it,” he said.
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