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. 2024 Jul 26;103(30):e38989.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000038989.

Trends of Korean medicine service utilization for lumbar disc herniation and spinal stenosis: A 10-year analysis of the 2010 to 2019 data

Myeong Yeol Yang  1 , Eun-Jung Kim  2 , Dongwoo Nam  3 , Yeoncheol Park  4 , In-Hyuk Ha  5 , Doori Kim  5 , Yoon Jae Lee  5
Affiliations

Trends of Korean medicine service utilization for lumbar disc herniation and spinal stenosis: A 10-year analysis of the 2010 to 2019 data

Myeong Yeol Yang et al. Medicine (Baltimore). .

Abstract

This retrospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive study aimed to analyze the trend of utilizing traditional Korean medicine services in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and/or lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). In this study, based on the national patient sample data provided by Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), the trend of Korean medicine service utilization was investigated, including the following information: demographic characteristics of the patients, the total expenditure, number of claim statements per category, medical care expenditure per category, and routes of visiting traditional Korean medicine institutions. The study population comprised patients who visited Korean medicine institutions at least once from January 2010 to December 2019, with LSS and LDH as the primary diagnosis. LDH patients who used traditional Korean medicine services for treatment increased by about 1.36 times. LDH and LSS patients under 45 years of age were more likely to be males, but women accounted for a higher percentage among those over 45 years of age. Overall, women accounted for a slightly higher percentage than their counterparts for both diseases. From details of treatments received that were extracted from the claims data, acupuncture treatment accounted for the highest percentage for both disorders. Moreover, 50.7% of the patients who visited Korean medicine institutions to treat the two diseases also visited conventional Western medicine institutions. These patients, who were diagnosed with their condition at a Korean medicine institution, visited a conventional institution and then returned; the conventional institutions were primarily used for examination (40.5%). Increased utilization of traditional Korean medicine services was confirmed among patients with LDH and/or LSS; in particular, a sharp increase was noted among patients with LSS. The results of this study will be useful as basic research data for clinicians, researchers, and policy makers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of patients who visited KM institutions with LSS and LDH as a primary diagnosis from 2010 to 2019. In each year, those who had both LSS and LDH as the primary diagnosis were counted twice, as duplication. LSS = lumbar spinal stenosis, LDH = lumbar disc herniation.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Ten-yr (2010–2019) trend in Korean medicine service utilization owing to LSS. (A) Trend in the total number of patients and the ratio of inpatients. (B) Trend in the total expenditure and ratio of inpatient expenditure. LSS = lumbar spinal stenosis.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Ten-yr (2010–2019) trend in Korean medicine service utilization owing to LDH. (A) Trend in the total number of patients and the ratio of inpatients (B) Trend in the total expenditure and ratio of inpatient expenditure. LDH = lumbar disc herniation.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Ten-yr trend (2020–2019) of Korean medicine service utilization by age and sex for patients with LSS or LDH. (A) LSS. (B) LDH. LSS = lumbar spinal stenosis, LDH = lumbar disc herniation.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Trends by category of Korean medicine service utilization for patients with LSS and LDH. (A) Annual trends in the number of claims by category. (B) Annual trends in expenditure by category. LSS = lumbar spinal stenosis, LDH = lumbar disc herniation.
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