전신 및 구강 복합만성질환자의 이환 유형에 따른 외래 의료서비스 이용 비교

Comparison of Morbidity Patterns to the Use of Outpatient Medical Services in Patients with Multiple Systemic and Oral Chronic Diseases

Objectives: Multiple chronic diseases are expected to exert an increasingly negative influence on the health care system, but there is little concern for these chronic diseases despite that individual chronic diseases have been drawing attention in Korea. The oral cavity is a part of the body, and oral diseases are closely related to systemic health. Specifically, chronic oral diseases, such as dental caries and periodontal diseases, are given considerable weight in terms of the overall use of medical services. The purpose of this study was to examine the state of multiple chronic diseases, including oral diseases, morbidity patterns, and any possible differences in the frequency of using outpatient medical services according to morbidity patterns. Methods: Analysis was based on Korea Health Panel data from 2011. These data were of 40-year-old and older individuals, of whom 2,619 had single chronic conditions and 963 had multiple chronic conditions. All of them had experienced being examined as outpatients. Results: The average utilization frequency of outpatient clinics of a multiple-chronic-condition patient per year was 15.6 times, which was 1.5 times higher than the 6.1 times of a single-chronic-condition patient. The multiple-chronic-disease patients’ utilization frequency of outpatient clinics was compared according to subgroup. Groups 1 and 5 had the highest and lowest utilization frequencies of outpatient clinics, respectively. Conclusions: Chronic disease coordination is necessary to provide quality care and efficient service. The government should promote human resource training policies and programs to support patients with chronic diseases. Moreover, policy development and enforcement for patients with chronic oral disease are needed to defray high non-payment expenditure.