Korean Diabetes Association

Background: The prevalence of diabetes is steadily increasing in Korea. The increase in number of people with diabetes would ultimately result in premature death, poor quality of life, and increasing economic burden. However, in our country, researches regarding on the quality of diabetes management are lacking. This study was conducted in 2005 using National Health Insurance Database to know the current status of diabetes management in Korea.Methods: We have randomly selected 3,902 subjects out of 2,503,754 subjects who had claims with diagnosis of diabetes between January 2003 to December 2003 by using two staged cluster sampling method. Field survey with review of medical records and telephone survey was conducted with standardized record forms developed by Korean Diabetes Association; Task Force Team For Basic Statistical Study of Korean Diabetes Mellitus. Results: The age of diabetic subjects was 58.1 ± 12.6 years and the duration of diabetes was 6.2 ± 5.5 years. Hypertension was present in 54% of diabetic subjects. Among those with hypertension, 59% were controlled with blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg, but only 19% were controlled with blood pressure below 130/80 mmHg. Hyperlipidemia was present in 29% of diabetic subjects. Only 38% of those with hyperlipidemia were controlled with LDL-cholesterol below 100 mg/dL. For glycemic control, only 40% of diabetic subjects achieved the goal of HbA1c less than 7%, which was suggested by ADA. 접수일자: 2007년 3월 28일, 통과일자: 2007년 5월 23일, 책임저자: 김재용, 건강보험심사평가원 조사연구실Conclusion: We found that only 20~40% of diabetic subjects in Korea achieved the management goal for glucose, blood pressure, and lipids. It seems urgent to develop a quality management program for diabetes subjects in Korea. (J Kor Diabetes Assoc 31:362~367, 2007)

- Abstract - Background: Diabetes is becoming one of the main causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) worldwide. We studied the prevalence and incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the Korean population based on health insurance claims submitted to the Health Insurance Review Agency. We also investigated the proportion of medications taken by the ESRD patients, and frequency of hospital admission or visits, and medical expenses between ESRD patients with and without diabetes. Methods: This study was based on health insurance claims submitted to the Health Insurance Review Agency during the period from January 2001 through December 2003. Using the disease-classification codes on the health insurance claim forms, those who were diagnosed with chronic renal disease (N18 or N19) and received dialysis-related treatment (Z49), treatment with a kidney dialysis machine (Z99.2), or kidney transplantation (Z94.0) were defined as ESRD patients. Among the ESRD patients, those who were diagnosed with diabetes (E10-E14) and/or took anti-diabetic drugs were defined as ESRD patients with diabetes.