BACKGROUND: Multimorbidity is the presence of two or more chronic diseases and is associated with increased adverse outcomes, including hospitalization, mortality and frequency of use of medical institutions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe multimorbidity patterns,determine whether multimorbidity was associated with high medical expenditure, and determine whether mental diseases had an interaction effect on this association.METHODS: We conducted a claims data-based observational study. Data were obtained
for 7526 individuals aged 0-75 years from a medical claims data set for Goto, Japan,
over a 12-month period (2016-17). Annual medical expenditure was divided into quintiles;
the fifth quintile represented high medical expenditure. Multimorbidity status was defined
as the occurrence of two or more health conditions from 17 specified conditions.
Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for high medical expenditure were calculated
by number of comorbidities. RESULTS: In total, 5423 (72.1%) participants had multimorbidity.
Multimorbidity was significantly associated with high medical expenditure,
even after adjustment for age, sex and income category (OR: 10.36, 95% CI: 7.57-14.19; P < 0.001).
Mental diseases had a significant interaction effect on the association between multimorbidity
and high medical expenditure (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Multimorbidity is associated
with high medical expenditure in Japan. Mental diseases may contribute to increased medical costs.
雑誌名
Family Practice
巻
37
号
4
ページ
453 - 458
発行年
2020-08-01
出版者
Oxford University Press
EISSN
14602229
DOI
10.1093/fampra/cmaa015
権利
c The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Family Practice following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Family Practice, 37(4), pp.453-458; 2020 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmaa015.