Investigators from Seoul National University Hospital Target Huntington Disease (Increased 10-year Prevalence of Huntington’s Disease In South Korea: an Analysis of Medical Expenditure Through the National Healthcare System): Neurodegenerative Diseases and Conditions – Huntington Disease

2023 APR 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at South Korea Daily Report -- Investigators discuss new findings in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Conditions - Huntington Disease. According to news reporting out of Seoul, South Korea, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “This study aimed to determine the updated 10-year prevalence of Huntington’s disease (HD) in South Korea and the medical and economic burdens across the duration of the disease.Methods Data from the National Health Insurance database during 2010-2019 were ana-lyzed. We identified HD cases using predefined criteria.”

Financial support for this research came from Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University (SMG- SNU) Boramae Medical Center.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Seoul National University Hospital, “Information on age at diagnosis, sex, and common nonneurological comorbidities were collected. We analyzed individual patterns of the use of medical services and yearly medical expenditure. Incidence rates, 10-year preva-lence rates, and longitudinal medical expenditure changes were assessed.Results New patients with HD (average=152.10) were detected every year, with an annual in-cidence of 0.29 per 100,000. The estimated 10-year prevalence of HD was 2.2 per 100,000. The most common ages at the time of diagnosis were 50-59 years (23.3%). In 2019, 56.4% of patients with HD were followed-up at referral or general hospitals, and 32.2% were managed at long-term-care hospitals. The annual medical cost for an individual was KRW 6,569,341 +/- 895,097 (mean +/- SD) (mean approximate to USD 5,653). Medical expenditure was the highest in those aged 60-79 years, and lowest in those younger than 30 years.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “However, in all age groups, the annual medical ex-penditure was highest during the 9 years following a diagnosis.Conclusions This study found that the actual prevalence of HD in South Korea was higher than previously thought and that patients are in a situation with high medical expenditure that persists over time.”

For more information on this research see: Increased 10-year Prevalence of Huntington’s Disease In South Korea: an Analysis of Medical Expenditure Through the National Healthcare System. Journal of Clinical Neurology, 2023;19(2):147-155. Journal of Clinical Neurology can be contacted at: Korean Neurological Assoc, 1111 Daeil Bld, 43 Insa-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 110-741, South Korea.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Jee-Youn Lee, Seoul National University Hospital, Dept. of Neurology, Seoul, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Chan Young Lee, Jun-soo Ro, Hyemin Jung, Manho Kim and Beomseok Jeon.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3988/jcn.2022.0212. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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