OBJECTIVE: The prevalence rate of osteoarthritis in Koreans aged 50 years or older is 14.3%, and the total amount of medical costs is more than KRW 1 trillion. Recently, the reimbursement guidelines for osteoarthritis treatment have changed. METHODS: In this study, we sought to describe prescription patterns of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and gastro-protective agent (GPA) and analyze the clinical and economic impacts of the new policy using the national health insurance claims data. The incidence of upper gastrointestinal adverse event by policy change was identified through the odds ratio, and changes in medicine and medical costs related to osteoarthritis through mean and median. RESULTS: There were 204,552 patients before the reimbursement guidelines relaxation and 239,710 after it, a 17.2% rise. The prescription ratio was 3.3% for the patients prescribed with COX-2 selective NSAIDs alone and 1.3% for those with both COX-2 selective NSAIDs and GPA combination before the reimbursement guidelines relaxation. The reimbursement guidelines relaxation significantly increased their ratios to 6.9% and 2.8%, respectively. Gastrointestinal adverse events significantly reduced by 1.21%p after reimbursement guidelines relaxation. The average medicine cost per person increased significantly to KRW 140,291 from KRW 137,323 after the reimbursement guidelines relaxation, while the average medical cost per person slightly decreased from KRW 311,605 to KRW 310,755 after the relaxation, showing no meaningful difference. CONCLUSION: The reimbursement guidelines relaxation may influence on decreasing the upper gastrointestinal adverse event, increasing the medicine costs and maintaining the medical costs for osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE: We identified the causative viruses from patients with aseptic meningitis, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis and other enterovirus-related diseases to understand the epidemiological patterns and prevailing strains of enterovirus infections each year. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During 1999-2003, we examined 3,260 specimens from 2,939 patients with aseptic meningitis or other clinical manifestations for the presence of enteroviruses by using both cell culture/ neutralisation test and reverse transcription-polymerse chain reaction-sequencing. To investigate the etiological agents which caused an epidemic of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis, conjunctival swab samples from acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis patients showing cytopathic effects in HEp2 cells were tested by enteroviral specific PCR. RESULTS: We identified 603 isolates of enteroviruses (20.5%) among 2,939 cases and 22 serotypes of human enteroviruses were isolated during this 5 year period. Echovirus 13 and coxsackievirus A24 in 2002 and coxsackievirus A9 in 2003 were the first enterovirus to be indentified in Korea since we began the enterovirus surveillance in 1993. While an epidemic of echovirus 13 infection in Korea began in Gwangju and Jeolla province in 2002 and spread to Seoul, Gyunggi, Busan, Ulsan and other regions, echovirus 6 isolates in 2002 were mainly detected in Busan specimens and some Gwangju samples. From the nucleotide sequencing of enteroviral PCR products of conjunctival swab specimens, we found 85% nucleotide homology to coxsackievirus A24 (D90457). CONCLUSIONS: We isolated 603 enteroviral isolates among 2939 cases during 1999-2003. Echovirus 13 and coxsackievirus A24 were the first enterovirus to be identified in Korea and caused nationwide epidemics in 2002.
Busan ; Conjunctivitis ; Conjunctivitis, Acute Hemorrhagic ; Echovirus 6, Human ; Enterovirus B, Human ; Enterovirus Infections ; Enterovirus* ; Gwangju ; Humans ; Korea* ; Meningitis, Aseptic ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Seoul ; Ulsan

PURPOSE: We identified the causative viruses from patients with aseptic meningitis, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis and other enterovirus-related diseases to understand the epidemiological patterns and prevailing strains of enterovirus infections each year. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During 1999-2003, we examined 3,260 specimens from 2,939 patients with aseptic meningitis or other clinical manifestations for the presence of enteroviruses by using both cell culture/ neutralisation test and reverse transcription-polymerse chain reaction-sequencing. To investigate the etiological agents which caused an epidemic of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis, conjunctival swab samples from acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis patients showing cytopathic effects in HEp2 cells were tested by enteroviral specific PCR. RESULTS: We identified 603 isolates of enteroviruses (20.5%) among 2,939 cases and 22 serotypes of human enteroviruses were isolated during this 5 year period. Echovirus 13 and coxsackievirus A24 in 2002 and coxsackievirus A9 in 2003 were the first enterovirus to be indentified in Korea since we began the enterovirus surveillance in 1993. While an epidemic of echovirus 13 infection in Korea began in Gwangju and Jeolla province in 2002 and spread to Seoul, Gyunggi, Busan, Ulsan and other regions, echovirus 6 isolates in 2002 were mainly detected in Busan specimens and some Gwangju samples. From the nucleotide sequencing of enteroviral PCR products of conjunctival swab specimens, we found 85% nucleotide homology to coxsackievirus A24 (D90457). CONCLUSIONS: We isolated 603 enteroviral isolates among 2939 cases during 1999-2003. Echovirus 13 and coxsackievirus A24 were the first enterovirus to be identified in Korea and caused nationwide epidemics in 2002.
Busan ; Conjunctivitis ; Conjunctivitis, Acute Hemorrhagic ; Echovirus 6, Human ; Enterovirus B, Human ; Enterovirus Infections ; Enterovirus* ; Gwangju ; Humans ; Korea* ; Meningitis, Aseptic ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Seoul ; Ulsan