| Summary: | 碩士 === 長庚大學 === 企業管理研究所 === 96 === Hepatitis B is an infectious disease the most common seen in the world, and also the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a massive economic burden for society. The incidence of hepatitis viral infection is continuously increasing in Taiwan, which leads to higher morbidity and mortality due to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. According to research, the majority of hepatitis viral infections are due to hepatitis B. Consequently, we have selected hepatitis B infection as the main topic of this research. This thesis analyzes three major issues raised by the existing literatures on hepatitis B. Firstly, the trend and characteristics of both patients and providers conducting treatments for hepatitis B viral infection. Secondly, the efforts and cost spent by the health insurance to the treatments of hepatitis B infection. Thirdly, suggestions can be made by the analyses to both insurance institutes and pharmaceutical industry regarding appropriateness and economic concerns of such disease.
This study used SAS 9.1 software package to manage BNHI database and to extract HBV patients with selected ICD-9-CM code for further analyses. Variables available for HBV infected patients were found as age, sex, geography distribution, level of healthcare institutes, and prescription code. Patients were divided into OPD (out-patient sector) and ADM (in-patient sector) under five selected hepatitis B treatment drugs. Multiple logistic regression analyses were applied to identify factors related to the treatment and medical consumptions.
During the past ten years from 1997 to 2006, 3,938,345 medical visits from 1,451,514 HBV patients received medications. Medical expenditures and drug cost within 10 years were totaled as NT$ 7,103,042,061 and NT$ 1,481,953,748, respectively. The highest likelihood of age group seeking HBV treatment was found between 31 and 50 years old. Most HBV patients received their treatment in medical centers and regional hospitals located in high-urbanization cities. Patient’s age, geographic distribution, level of health care institutes, and specialty were shown as factors associated with treatment behaviors in the selected medication drugs. Market estimation for HBV infection treated drugs such as Interferon and antiviral agents will be continuously increasing in Taiwan’s market. In summary, this study has demonstrated some specific patterns in medical visits and medical consumption of HBV treatments, which offers insights for future strategy in prevention and treatment of HBV infection in Taiwan.
|
|---|
