title: Two-year direct medical costs of stroke in Korea: a multi-centre incidence-based study from hospital perspectives.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite increasing socio-economic burden of stroke, few studies have investigated the costs associated with the stroke care in Korea. We estimated the two-year direct medical costs associated with stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a multi-centre, incidence-based, retrospective observational study. We examined the records of all adult patients who were admitted in eight large hospitals throughout Korea due to acute stroke [I60: sub-arachnoid haemorrhage; I61: intracerebral haemorrhage; I62: other nontraumatic haemorrhage; I63: cerebral infarction, by The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD)-10] between 1 November and 31 December 2006. Direct medical inpatient and outpatient cost of each patient was extracted from the medical record and the reimbursement claim data of the hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 908 studied patients (14% diagnosed as I60, 18% as I61, 3% as I62, and 65% as I63), 460 (50.7%) were assessed for more than one-year. The annual average direct medical costs were Korean 8,114,471 US$8732) for the first year, and Korean 431,527 for the second year. The first year costs for haemorrhagic stroke (I60-I62) (Korean 13,090,179) were significantly higher than those associated with cerebral infarction (I63) (Korean 5,460,459), whereas the second year costs were not different. Factors independently associated with high cost were female gender, young age, and first stroke.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Direct medical costs for stroke in Korea were determined, which seem to be lower than those of other developed countries. Female gender, young age, and first stroke were factors related to higher stroke cost.
authors.affiliation: Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Joung-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Rha
authors.forename: Jaseong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Ki Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Eung-Gyu
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Gun Sei
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Se Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jae Kwan
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Jin-Jeong
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Gyoung-Rye
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Ham
authors.forename: Hyun-Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Jong S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D004180:Direct Service Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D013345:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult