title: Factors affecting treatment compliance in new hypertensive patients in Korea.
abstract: This study aims to analyze continuity of care according to complications and examine the relationship between the continuity of care and health outcomes (hospitalization, emergency department visits, and complications) using data of new hypertensive patients from Korea's National Health Insurance Claims database. There were a total of 715,053 new hypertensive patients followed up for three years until 2011. Indices of continuity of care were Continuity of Care Index (COC), Modified, Modified Continuity Index (MMCI), and Most Frequent Provider Continuity (MFPC). The mean values of COC, MMCI, and MFPC were 0.79, 0.77, and 0.87, respectively, in new hypertensive patients with complications, and 0.80, 0.79, and 0.87, respectively, in those without complications. The factors affecting the continuity of care were sex, ambulatory care visits, number of providers, main medical institution, and Charlson's comorbidity score. Following analysis of the correlation between the treatment compliance and health outcomes, the low COC group had a higher association with hospitalization, the emergency department visit, and complications as compared with the high COC group. COC and medication adherence were associated with a reduction of hospitalization, emergency department visits, and complications. This indicates it would be mandatory to manage the patients' continuity of care.
authors.affiliation: a Korea National Rehabilitation Research Institute, Korea National Rehabilitation Center , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: b Department of Medicine , Graduate School, Kyung Hee University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kanghee
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: b Department of Medicine , Graduate School, Kyung Hee University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Hee
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medical Education and Humanities , College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: So-Youn
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: d Department of Preventive Medicine , College of Medicine, Korea University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seok-Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: e Department of Preventive Medicine , College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: In-Hwan
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Continuity of care; Korea; cardio-cerebrovascular diseases; hypertension; treatment compliance