Nationwide Incidence of Acute Angle Closure Glaucoma in Korea from 2011 to 2015

Feature Analysis of Burn Patients in Korea Using National Health Insurance Database

PURPOSE: Investigating epidemiological features of burn victims from a national frame has not been attempted recently. METHODS: South Korean National Health Insurance System (NHIS) provides a vast array of feature data on common diseases. A database search from January 2013 to December 2017 was undertaken with disease codes related to burn injuries and burn dressing procedures. After data cleaning, feature analysis was done with final dataset of 1,800 records. RESULTS: Demographic analysis showed gender preference to woman by 6:4. Age distribution showed bimodal peaks at 0~9 years and 40~60 years. Burns to the lower extremity seemed to increase with burn depth. Marked decrease in duration of hospitalization for first- and second-degree burns were noted over five years. CONCLUSION: Incidence to age analysis showed bimodal peaks in pediatric (age 0~9) and middle-aged (age 40~60) individuals. A decreasing trend towards shorter hospitalization is noted in mild to moderate burns. Further attention is needed to prevent third-degree burns to the elderly.

Identification and Validation of Osteoporotic Hip Fracture Using the National Health Insurance Database

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to develop and validate identification criteria for the cases of osteoporotic hip fracture using the National Health Insurance Database, and we calculated the incidence rate of osteoporotic hip fracture in the Korean population using these criteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The criteria to identify osteoporotic hip fracture using a diagnosis code, a procedure code, the type and number of medical service usages and the patients' ages were developed via discussions among experts. These criteria were validated by using a hip fracture cohort in which all the genuine osteoporotic hip fracture patients in the Jeju area were identified by reviewing the registered medical records and radiographs. By applying the identification criteria to the National Health Insurance Database that was accumulated until June 2009, we calculated the incidence rate of osteoporotic hip fracture in patients between 50 and 100 years of age in 2008. RESULTS: The identification criteria had a sensitivity of 93.1% and a positive predictive value of 77.4%. A total of 20,432 osteoporotic hip fracture cases were identified in 2008, and the incidence rate was 15.7 cases per 10,000 persons. The osteoporotic hip fracture incidence rate for females was 20.7 (per 10,000persons), and this was 2.1 times higher than that for the males (9.8case per 10,000persons), and the rates were increased with age. CONCLUSION: The incidence of osteoporotic hip fracture that occurred on a nationwide scale can be more precisely estimated by using the National Health Insurance Database with its comprehensive information on the overall details of treatment as well as the diagnosis codes, and so the incidence of osteoporotic hip fracture can be reliably calculated for each year. The results from this research could be used as evidence in a hip fracture management plan for establishing Korean Health policy.