8 out of 10 Deaths Last Year Were Due to 'Chronic Diseases'... "Medical Expense Burden Also Increasing"

KDCA Publishes '2022 Chronic Disease Status and Issues'

[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] Last year, 8 out of 10 deaths were caused by chronic diseases. Meanwhile, the burden of medical expenses due to chronic diseases is increasing.

According to the "2022 Status and Issues of Chronic Diseases" report released on the 17th by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which identified the status of major chronic diseases and health risk factors in South Korea, deaths caused by chronic diseases accounted for 79.6% of all deaths last year. Chronic diseases refer to non-communicable diseases that are not transmitted between people.

Among chronic diseases, malignant neoplasms (cancer) caused the highest number of deaths at 82,688 (26.0%). Following that, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases caused 54,176 deaths (17.0%), chronic respiratory diseases 14,005 deaths (4.4%), and diabetes 8,961 deaths (2.8%), in that order.

The prevalence of major chronic diseases is on the rise. The prevalence rates of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia in 2020 were 28.3%, 13.6%, and 29.9%, respectively, showing increases of 1.1 percentage points, 1.8 percentage points, and 1.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. Hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia are major preceding conditions of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as acute myocardial infarction and cerebral hemorrhage.

Nevertheless, the management levels of alcohol consumption and obesity have stagnated or worsened. The rate of high-risk alcohol consumption among adults decreased from 14.7% in 2018 to 12.6% in 2019 but rose again to 14.1% in 2020 after the onset of COVID-19. The obesity prevalence was 33.8% in 2019 but jumped to 38.3% during the same period due to reduced outdoor activities caused by social distancing.

The burden of medical expenses due to chronic diseases is also increasing. Domestic medical expenses for chronic diseases have been rising annually from 63 trillion won in 2018 to 70 trillion won in 2019 and 71 trillion won in 2020. In 2020, medical expenses for chronic diseases accounted for 85% of total medical expenses. As the population ages, medical expenses for chronic diseases among the elderly aged 65 and over also increased from 11 trillion won in 2019 to 12 trillion won in 2020.

Baek Kyung-ran, director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, stated, "The burden of death and disease caused by chronic diseases is increasing," and emphasized that "it is important to actively manage health regularly to form healthy lifestyle habits, including adherence to prevention and management guidelines for each chronic disease."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.