Relationship between Income and Healthcare Utilization in Cancer Patients

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the income level and the healthcare utilization by health insurance type in all cancer patients in year 2005. Methods: The target population was cancer patients with health insurance who used healthcare as a diagnosis code (C00-C97) from January 1 to December 31 of 2005. The Korea Central Cancer Registry Center`s Cancer Patient Registry Data, the list of cancer patients of the National Health Insurance Corporation, and the claim data of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service were used. The I was the wealthiest, followed by II, III, IV. The V was the poorest in this study. For the analysis, the -test, ANOVA (and Kruskal-Wallis test), and regression were used. Results: Outpatient and hospitalization medical expenses, and outpatient visit days of cancer patients with self-employed health insurance were highest in I (p