National Health Insurance Service Reports Findings in Spinal Cord Injury (Comparison of Trends in the Incidence of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in Daily Life, Automobile Accidents, and Industrial Accidents: A National Multi-Insurance Study in …): Central Nervous System Diseases and Conditions – Spinal Cord Injury

2023 MAR 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at South Korea Daily Report -- New research on Central Nervous System Diseases and Conditions - Spinal Cord Injury is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Wonju, South Korea, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To examine the incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) from all etiologies, we measured and compared the incidence of TSCI from three national or quasi-national databases in South Korea, namely, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), automobile insurance (AUI), and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI). We reviewed patients with TSCI reported in the NHIS database between 2009 and 2018, and in the AUI and IACI databases between 2014 and 2018.”

Financial support for this research came from Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from National Health Insurance Service, “TSCI patients were defined as those first admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of TSCI according to the International Classification of Diseases (10th revision) criteria. Age-adjusted incidence was calculated using direct standardization using the 2005 South Korean population or the 2000 US population as the standard population. The annual percentage changes (APC) of TSCI incidence were calculated. The Cochrane-Armitage trend test was performed according to the injured body region. In the NHIS database, age-adjusted TSCI incidence using the Korean standard population increased significantly from 2009 to 2018 (from 33.73 per million in 2009 to 38.14 per million in 2018, APC = 1.2%, = 0.014). Contrarily, age-adjusted incidence in the AUI database significantly decreased from 13.88 per million in 2014 to 11.57 per million in 2018 (APC = - 5.1%, = 0.009). In the IACI database, the age-adjusted incidence showed no significant difference, while crude incidence showed a significant increase (from 22.02 per million in 2014 to 28.92 per million in 2018, APC = 6.1%, = 0.038). According to the age group, all the three databases showed high incidences of TSCI in those in their 60s and 70s or older. Among those in their 70s or older, the incidence of TSCI increased dramatically in the NHIS and IACI databases, while no significant trend was found in AUI database. In 2018, the number of TSCI patients was the highest among those over 70 years of age in the NHIS, whereas among those in their 50s were the highest in both AUI and IACI. The proportion of patients with cervical spinal cord injury was the most common in all these databases. The differences in trends in the incidence of TSCI may be due to the different etiologies and different characteristics of subjects depending on insurance type.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “These results imply the need for tailored medical strategies for the different injury mechanisms represented by three national insurance services in South Korea.”

For more information on this research see: Comparison of Trends in the Incidence of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in Daily Life, Automobile Accidents, and Industrial Accidents: A National Multi-Insurance Study in Korea. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 2023;38(7). Journal of Korean Medical Science can be contacted at: Korean Acad Medical Sciences, 302 75 Dong Du Ichon, Dong Yongsan Ku, Seoul 140 031, South Korea.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Young-Eun Kim, Dept. of Big Data Strategy, National Health Insurance Service, Wonju, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Yoonjeong Choi, Ja-Ho Leigh, Ye Seol Lee, Han-Kyoul Kim, You Gyoung Yi, Jinyoung Lee, Min-Yong Lee, Gangpyo Lee, Hyung-Ik Shin and Moon Suk Bang.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e26. 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.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Korean Medical Science is: Korean Acad Medical Sciences, 302 75 Dong Du Ichon, Dong Yongsan Ku, Seoul 140 031, South Korea.

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