Prevalence of Dementia in Korea Based on Hospital Utilization Data from 2008 to 2016

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#Dementia is an important health issue in Korea due to its associated medical costs. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of dementia in Korea by analyzing hospital utilization rates. @*Materials and Methods@#We examined National Health Insurance data from 2008 to 2016 and identified all dementia cases. Crude and age- and sex-standardized prevalence were calculated. A generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate prevalence ratios. @*Results@#We identified 176746 and 530269 dementia cases in 2008 and 2016, respectively. Alzheimer’s disease was the most common dementia subtype (65.4% and 86.1% in 2008 and 2016, respectively). Across all age groups, the prevalence of dementia increased consistently the increase was prominent among patients ≥85 years of age. Among patients ≥65 years of age, crude prevalence was estimated at 31.3 and 72.2 per 1000 population in 2008 and 2016, respectively. Age- and sex-standardized prevalence increased from 31.3 to 62.0 per 1000 population between 2008 and 2016, respectively. The prevalence ratio for dementia in 2016 was 2.02 times (95% confidence interval, 2.01–2.03) higher than that in 2008. When adjusted for age, dementia was more prevalent among females. The most common comorbidity was hypertension, followed by diabetes and stroke. @*Conclusion@#Our results demonstrated that hospital utilization for dementia increased significantly from 2008 to 2016, reflecting a proportional increase in the prevalence of dementia. Korean healthcare policy must prioritize dementia treatment.