"Increase in Young Patients with Heart Disease (Comprehensive)"

Image related to heart disease
Photo by Yangji Hospital

The number of patients with heart disease, the second leading cause of death in South Korea, has increased by 20% over the past four years. This is attributed to a significant rise in young heart disease patients in their 20s and 30s.

According to the "2018-2022 Heart Disease Treatment Status Analysis" released on the 7th by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), the number of heart disease patients increased from 1,529,537 in 2018 to 1,833,320 last year, a 19.9% rise. During the same period, medical expenses surged by 38.5%, from 1.8329 trillion KRW to 2.5391 trillion KRW.

By gender, the number of male patients rose from 855,689 in 2018 to 1,054,345 last year, a 23.2% increase, while female patients increased from 673,848 to 778,975 during the same period. Their total annual medical expenses last year were 1.6055 trillion KRW and 933.6 billion KRW respectively, marking increases of 41.8% and 33.2%.

As of last year, the age group with the highest proportion of heart disease patients was those aged 80 and above (15.47%·349,035 people). This was followed by the 70s (13.53%·517,731 people) and 60s (7.37%·545,854 people). The increase was particularly notable among those aged 30 and under.

For people in their 20s, the patient ratio relative to the population was only 0.33% (22,802 people) in 2018 but jumped to 0.47% (30,215 people) last year. The 30s age group also saw an increase from 0.58% (41,823 people) to 0.73% (48,458 people) during the same period. The number of patients in their teens rose by 28.8%, from 10,210 to 13,153, with the patient ratio relative to the population increasing from 0.2% to 0.28%.

Representative ischemic heart diseases include angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. Angina pectoris patients increased by 6.0%, and myocardial infarction patients by 19.6%. Patients with arrhythmia diseases surged by 25.0%.

Haguja, head of HIRA's Benefit Information Analysis Office, stated, “Looking at the treatment records over the past five years, most heart disease patients are aged 50 and above, but the patient ratio has increased the most among those in their teens and 20s.”

He added, “To prevent such diseases, it is important to maintain consistent health management through regular exercise and dietary therapy, undergo regular check-ups, and receive treatment based on expert medical judgment if abnormalities are detected.”

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