Changes in health care utilization during the MERS epidemic

Abstract

Background: In 2015, MERS epidemic in korea has had a great impact on not only health care but also society as a whole. Fear of new infectious diseases has dampened the daily lives of citizens and limited activities. Above all, citizens have reduced visits to hospitals, which can lead to a situation where patients who need medical care can not use medical service. The purpose of this study is to analyze how medical use of patients with emergent or severe illness has changed during the period of MERS epidemic. Methods & Materials: We used data from the Korea National Health Insurance (KNHI) Claims Database for 2013–2016. In Korea, 97% of the population is obligated to enroll in the KNHI program; the remaining 3% is covered by the Medical Aid Program. We analyzed patterns of medical use during the same period of 2013, 2014, and 2016, compared to the 2015 epidemic. The medical treatment was divided into the change of total use, emergency room, intensive care unit and respiratory infectious diseases. In addition, we analyzed the MERS epidemic area and the non epidemic area. Results: The total number of medical use decreased during the period of the epidemic in June and July, and decreased in both admission and outpatient treatment, but the number of hospital admissions increased rapidly after August, when the epidemic slowed down. Intensive care unit and number of operations did not decrease significantly, but the number of emergency room visits decreased by more than 20% and rose again after August.There were no significant changes in the number of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and there was no significant change in acute diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke. There was a large difference between epidemic and non epidemic areas, with no decrease of more than 5% except for the emergency room. Conclusion: Although the MERS epidemic has affected the whole population, the use of medical care for severely ill patients has not been reduced by preventing the spread through hospital closure and isolation of contacted persons.