Abstract
BackgroundThis cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study analyzed the demographics of patients with peripheral facial palsy in South Korea and their use of healthcare services.MethodsThe 2016 Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment National Patient Sample dataset was used; a total of 4790 patients, diagnosed with facial palsy, who had used healthcare services at least once between January 2016 and December 2016 were included, and data on the use of medical services, hospitalizations, sociodemographic factors, treatments, and medications were analyzed.ResultsOverall, 326 patients per 100,000 individuals used healthcare services at least once because of peripheral facial palsy in 2016, with higher numbers for women and those aged 50–59 years. The percentage of patients who used Korean traditional medicine (KM), Western medicine (WM), and both KM and WM was 54.4, 23.3, and 22.3%, respectively. Users of both WM and KM had higher per capita medical costs, more visits, and longer treatment durations. Physiotherapy was the most frequent WM treatment (44.4%), and “examinations” was the costliest (24.7%) category. “Procedures” was both the most frequent and costliest KM category (99.9 and 57.3%, respectively). “Continuous intravenous injections” (8.6%) and “superficial heat therapy” (8.3%) were the most frequent WM treatments, while acupuncture accounted for 98% of all KM treatments.ConclusionsThis study analyzed the demographic characteristics and medical service use of patients with peripheral facial palsy in detail. These results can be used as basic information to improve clinical and policy strategies for the management and treatment of peripheral facial palsy.
Highlights
This cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study analyzed the demographics of patients with peripheral facial palsy in South Korea and their use of healthcare services
The prevalence of peripheral facial palsy was approximately 1.5 times higher in females. While this suggests that the prevalence of peripheral facial palsy, considering the definition used in our study, is generally higher among females, it may reflect the fact that females generally use healthcare services more frequently [33]
Glucocorticoids are the most frequently prescribed drug for patients with peripheral facial palsy [30] and, in general, their use is recommended for acute peripheral facial palsy treatment [52, 53]; oral steroid administration is associated with numerous side effects, including electrolyte disturbances, blood pressure elevation, hyperglycemia, pancreatitis, and other hematological, immunological, and neuropsychiatric problems [54, 55]
Summary
This cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study analyzed the demographics of patients with peripheral facial palsy in South Korea and their use of healthcare services. The seventh cranial nerve, known as the facial nerve, is important because it allows people to convey facial expressions by enabling the voluntarily contraction of facial muscles. It controls taste sensations in the anterior two-thirds of the tongue [1]. The most common type of the disease is acute mononeuropathy of an unknown cause, characterized by rapid partial or complete unilateral facial palsy [2, 3]. Peripheral facial palsy is not a lifethreatening disease, it leads to psychological distress and a reduced quality of life [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15] because the face is, from a psychological perspective, the most important human body part [16]
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