title: Predicting factors associated with costs of diabetic patients in Taiwan.
abstract: This study examined healthcare costs for medication-using diabetic patients in Taiwan and predicted which factors were associated with costs. We analyzed claims data from the National Health Insurance (NHI) program in Taiwan from 1998 to 1999. The approach included estimates of costs attributable to diabetes, diabetes-related complications, comorbidity incurred by diabetic patients. A multiple regression model was used to assess the contribution of patients' characteristics in 1998 on outpatient, inpatient, and total costs in 1998 and 1999. The prevalence of medication-using patients with diabetes was 2.6% in 1998 and 2.8% in 1999. Costs of healthcare were 13.3% of total costs of NHI in 1998 versus 13.0% in 1999. Health services delivered near the end of life consumed large portions of medical dollars. The three most prevalent clinical associations of diabetes were congestive heart failure, neuropathy, and ischemic heart disease. Adjusted for demographic and clinical characteristics in 1998, this model could explain 8.0, 9.3, and 12.5%, respectively, of the cost variation in outpatient, inpatient, and total costs in 1999.
authors.affiliation: Community Medicine Research Center & Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, and Department of Community Medicine, Chin Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. tsann.lin@msa.hinet.net
authors.forename: Tsann
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Pesus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Shih-Tzer
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Yu-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tong-Yuan
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Tai
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology; D016527:Drug Costs; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology; D009313:National Health Programs; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan