title: Direct medical costs for patients with type 2 diabetes and related complications: a prospective cohort study based on the Korean National Diabetes Program.
abstract: We analyzed the direct medical costs for Korean patients with type 2 diabetes according to the type of complications and the number of microvascular complications. We analyzed costs for type 2 diabetes and associated complications in 3,125 patients. These data were obtained from the Korean National Diabetes Program (KNDP), a large, ongoing, prospective cohort study that began in 2005. The cost data were prospectively collected, using an electronic database, for the KNDP cohort at six hospitals. The costs were analyzed according to complications for 1 yr from enrollment in the study. Among 3,125 patients, 918 patients had no vascular complications; 1,883 had microvascular complications only; 51 had macrovascular complications only; and 273 had both complications. The annual direct medical costs for a patient with only macrovascular, only microvascular, or both macrovascular and microvascular complications were 2.7, 1.5, and 2.0 times higher than the medical costs of patients without complications. Annual direct medical costs per patient increased with the number of microvascular complications in patients without macrovascular complications. The economic costs for type 2 diabetes are attributable largely to the management of microvascular and macrovascular complications. Proper management of diabetes and prevention of related complications are important for reducing medical costs.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Ho
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ki Hong
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: Hae Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Dae Jung
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jiyeong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.forename: Young Seol
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong Taek
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Yongsoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Moonsuk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Sei Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Baik
authors.forename: Kyu Jeung
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Kwan Woo
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000150:complications; D055815:Young Adult