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Medical costs of patients with hypertension and/or diabetes: A 10-year follow-up study of National Health Insurance in Shiga, Japan.

Nakamura K, Okamura T, Kanda H, Hayakawa T, Okayama A, Ueshima H,

Department of Health Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu City, Shiga, Japan. ksnkmr@belle.shiga-med.ac.jp

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: A cohort study investigating medical costs associated with the combination of hypertension and diabetes was conducted. The participants included 4535 community-dwelling Japanese individuals, aged 40-69 years, who were classified into the following four categories: 'Neither hypertension nor diabetes', 'Hypertension alone', 'Diabetes alone' or 'Both hypertension and diabetes'. Medical costs per person per month were compared among the four categories. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Of the study population, 1.3% had both hypertension and diabetes. During the 10-year follow-up period, participants with both hypertension and diabetes incurred higher medical costs, as compared with those without hypertension, diabetes or their combination, even after adjustment for other confounding factors.

Published 20 October 2006 in J Hypertens, 24(11): 2305-9.
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