J Korean Med Sci.  2012 Mar;27(3):285-290. 10.3346/jkms.2012.27.3.285.

Prevalence of Treated Epilepsy in Korea Based on National Health Insurance Data

• Lee SY
• Jung KY
• Lee IK
• Yi SD
• Cho YW
• Kim DW
• Hwang SS
• Kim S
• The Korean Epilepsy Society

• KMID: 1793000
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2012.27.3.285

Abstract

The Korean national health security system covers the entire population and all medical facilities. We aimed to estimate epilepsy prevalence, anticonvulsant utilization pattern and the cost. We identified prevalent epilepsy patients by the prescription of anticonvulsants under the diagnostic codes suggesting seizure or epilepsy from 2007 Korean National Health Insurance databases. The information of demography, residential area, the kind of medical security service reflecting economic status, anticonvulsants, and the costs was extracted. The overall prevalence of treated epilepsy patients was 2.41/1,000, and higher for men than women. The age-specific prevalence was the lowest in those in their thirties and forties. Epilepsy was more prevalent among lower-income individuals receiving medical aid. The regional prevalence was the highest in Jeju Island and lowest in Ulsan city. New anticonvulsants were more frequently used than old anticonvulsants in the younger age group. The total annual cost of epilepsy or seizure reached 0.46% of total medical expenditure and 0.27% of total expenditure on health. This is the first nationwide epidemiological report issued on epilepsy in Korea. Epilepsy prevalence in Korea is comparable to those in developed countries. Economic status and geography affect the prevalence of epilepsy.

Keyword

Epilepsy; Epidemiology; Prevalence; Insurance, Health; Cost; Anticonvulsant

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Anticonvulsants/economics/therapeutic use
Child
Child, Preschool
Epilepsy/*drug therapy/economics/*epidemiology
Female
Health Care Costs
Health Expenditures
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
National Health Programs/economics/statistics & numerical data
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Seizures/drug therapy/economics/epidemiology
Socioeconomic Factors
Young Adult

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Regional prevalence in Korea. Note that the prevalence for each region was based on the diagnostic codes, irrespective of anticonvulsant prescription, because merging data for the residential areas and for the anticonvulsants was not permitted by privacy policy. Darker shades indicate higher prevalence. Numbers are the age-standardized prevalences per 1,000 of the population in each region.

• 

  Fig. 2 Anticonvulsant prescribing pattern according to gender (A) and age (B). (A) The vertical axis indicates the frequency of prescription (the number of patients who were prescribed the anticonvulsant divided by the number of entire patients who were prescribed any anticonvulsants under the diagnosis of epilepsy or seizure). (B) The length of horizontal axis was proportionated with the number of patients who took the anticonvulsant. The anticonvulsants were arranged in order of decreasing use from left to right. VPA, valproate; CBZ, carbamazepine; TPM, topiramate; LMT, lamotrigine; OCZ, oxcarbazepine; DPH, phenytoin; Pb, phenobarbital; GBP, gabapentin; ZNS, zonisamide; LVT= levetiracetam; VGB, vigabatrin; PGB, pregabalin; ETX, ethosuximide.

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