A Survey on Scabies Inpatients in South Korea Based on Health Insurance Claims Data from 2010 to 2019

Due to the growing aging population and the increased number of long-term patients staying in nursing facilities, the prevalence of scabies has recently been increasing, even in developed countries. This study aimed to identify the actual status of hospitalized patients with scabies in South Korea using the national health insurance claims data. From 2010 to 2019, 2586 patients were hospitalized with scabies (B86) as the primary diagnosis. There were more females than males (χ² = 31.960, p < 0.001) and patients aged 80 years or older in long-term care hospitals (χ² = 431.410, p < 0.001). Scabies patients were mainly hospitalized in internal medicine, family medicine, and dermatology for all provider types (χ² = 170.033, p < 0.001). In long-term care hospitals, the rate of accompanying dementia was 31.9% (χ² = 193.418, p < 0.001), cerebral infarction was 10.4% (χ² = 106.271, p < 0.001), and cancer was 2.1% (χ² = 17.963, p < 0.001), which was higher than other provider types. Additionally, 20.6% in general hospitals (χ² = 198.952, p < 0.001) had an indwelling catheter, while 49.1% in hospitals and 41.1% in general hospitals were administered steroids (χ² = 214.440, p < 0.001). The KOH smear test was performed in 11.3% of all inpatients with scabies. We suggest recognizing these characteristics of scabies patients and thoroughly checking the skin lesions during physical examination for early diagnosis and prevention of scabies infection.