title: Age specificity in general and rehabilitation medical services in children with cerebral palsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the medical utilization in children with cerebral palsy according to age and discern particularities.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2007 to December 2007, 10,659 children and adolescents between 1 and 18 years of age who had filed national insurance claims for a diagnosis of cerebral palsy were selected. Age was chosen as an independent variable, and the population was categorized into specific age groups to verify any differences in medical service utilization. Admission duration to rehabilitation, number of visits to rehabilitation outpatient clinics, numbers of admission dates and outpatient clinic visits for general medical services, number of rehabilitation utilizations, and type of rehabilitations treatment were selected as dependent variables. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical evaluation, and analysis was done with SAS software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In general medical use, adolescences diagnosed with cerebral palsy had the highest mean admission duration (p<0.001). The mean visit day to outpatient clinics for general medical services was highest for infants (p<0.001). In rehabilitation treatment, infants diagnosed with cerebral palsy had the highest mean admission duration (p<0.001). The mean visit day to outpatient clinics for rehabilitation treatment was highest for infants (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant differences in use of general and rehabilitation medical services among pediatric age groups with cerebral palsy were evident. This implies that particular attention is necessary when setting up a national medical care policy for patient with cerebral palsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: National Rehabilitation Research Institute, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Sook
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: National Rehabilitation Research Institute, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee-Yeon
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Sun
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Sung
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kang
keywords: Age; Cerebral palsy; Cost; Treatment; Visit