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Medical service utilization by children with physical or brain disabilities in South Korea
Sunyong Yoo1, Ja Young Choi2, Shin-Seung Yang2
1Department of ICT Convergence System Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
Insights
Children with physical or brain disabilities incur significant medical costs, with utilization varying by age and severity. Severe cases and older children require more economic support for comprehensive care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
- Health Services Research
- Disability Studies
Background:
- Children with physical or brain disabilities face functional impairments and health complications.
- Adequate medical support is crucial for managing these challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate medical service utilization in children with physical or brain disabilities in South Korea.
- To analyze medical visits, expenses, and comorbidities.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a database from the National Rehabilitation Center of South Korea.
- Extracted data on medical services, patient demographics, visit frequency, costs, and disability characteristics.
Main Results:
- Medical service utilization varied significantly by age, condition severity, and disability type.
- Higher costs and more visits were observed in children with severe physical or brain disabilities.
- Younger children (0-3) with physical disorders had the highest total expenses, while older children (13-18) had the highest per-visit costs.
Conclusions:
- Healthcare delivery systems need to be established to provide affordable and comprehensive medical services tailored to disability type and severity.
- Severe cases and older children with comorbidities require additional economic support.
Background:
Children with physical or brain disabilities experience several functional impairments and declining health complications that must be considered for adequate medical support. This study investigated the current medical service utilization of children expressing physical or brain disabilities in South Korea by analyzing medical visits, expenses, and comorbidities.
Methods:
We used a database linked to the National Rehabilitation Center of South Korea to extract information on medical services utilized by children with physical or brain disabilities, the number of children with a disability, medical visits for each child, medical expenses per visit, total medical treatment cost, copayments by age group, condition severity, and disability type.
Results:
Brain disorder comorbidities significantly differed between those with mild and severe disabilities. Visits per child, total medical treatment cost, and copayments were higher in children with severe physical disabilities; however, medical expenses per visit were lower than those with mild disabilities. These parameters were higher in children with severe brain disabilities than in mild cases. Total medical expenses incurred by newborns to three-year-old children with physical disorders were highest due to increased visits per child. However, medical expenses per visit were highest for children aged 13-18.
Conclusion:
Medical service utilization varied by age, condition severity, and disability type. Severe cases and older children with potentially fatal comorbidities required additional economic support. Therefore, a healthcare delivery system for children with disabilities should be established to set affordable medical costs and provide comprehensive medical services based on disability type and severity.
