Medical service utilization by children with physical or brain disabilities in South Korea

BMC Pediatrics

Research

Myeong-Hyeon Jeong¹  Sunyong Yoo¹  Min-Keun Song²  Seong-Eun Koh³  Ja Young Choi⁴  Shin-seung Yang⁴ 

[1] Department of ICT Convergence System Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea;Department of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School & Hospital, 160 baekseo-ro Dong-gu, 61479, Gwangju, Republic of Korea;Department of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University College of Medicine, Daegeon, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Medical service utilization;    Children;    Brain disability;    Physical disability;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12887-023-04309-2

 received in 2022-08-09, accepted in 2023-09-13,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundChildren with physical or brain disabilities experience several functional impairments and declining health complications that must be considered for adequate medical support. This study investigated the current medical service utilization of children expressing physical or brain disabilities in South Korea by analyzing medical visits, expenses, and comorbidities.MethodsWe used a database linked to the National Rehabilitation Center of South Korea to extract information on medical services utilized by children with physical or brain disabilities, the number of children with a disability, medical visits for each child, medical expenses per visit, total medical treatment cost, copayments by age group, condition severity, and disability type.ResultsBrain disorder comorbidities significantly differed between those with mild and severe disabilities. Visits per child, total medical treatment cost, and copayments were higher in children with severe physical disabilities; however, medical expenses per visit were lower than those with mild disabilities. These parameters were higher in children with severe brain disabilities than in mild cases. Total medical expenses incurred by newborns to three-year-old children with physical disorders were highest due to increased visits per child. However, medical expenses per visit were highest for children aged 13–18.ConclusionMedical service utilization varied by age, condition severity, and disability type. Severe cases and older children with potentially fatal comorbidities required additional economic support. Therefore, a healthcare delivery system for children with disabilities should be established to set affordable medical costs and provide comprehensive medical services based on disability type and severity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

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