Table 2.
Healthcare utilization and medication adherence among hypertensive patients during the study period.
| Variables | Total | Men | Women | p-Value 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | |||
| N | 23,135 | 11,942 | 51.0 | 11,193 | 49.0 | |||
| Healthcare Utilization | Location of healthcare providers 2 | |||||||
| Urban | 19,306 | 83.4 | 10,215 | 85.5 | 9091 | 81.2 | <0.0001 | |
| Rural | 1632 | 7.1 | 760 | 6.4 | 872 | 7.8 | ||
| Mixed | 2197 | 9.5 | 967 | 8.1 | 1230 | 11.0 | ||
| Types of healthcare providers 3 | ||||||||
| Tertiary/general hospital | 1683 | 7.3 | 1003 | 8.4 | 680 | 6.1 | <0.0001 | |
| Hospital/clinic/health center | 14,654 | 63.3 | 7505 | 62.8 | 7149 | 63.9 | ||
| Mixed | 6798 | 29.4 | 3434 | 28.8 | 3364 | 30.1 | ||
| Healthcare visits/person-year | ||||||||
| <4 times | 5980 | 25.8 | 3202 | 26.8 | 2778 | 24.8 | <0.0001 | |
| 4–12 times | 13,377 | 57.8 | 6929 | 58.0 | 6448 | 57.6 | ||
| >12 times | 3778 | 16.3 | 1811 | 15.2 | 1967 | 17.6 | ||
| Mean ±SD | 7.7 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 6.8 | 7.9 | 6.1 | <0.0001 | |
| Out-of-pocket expenses/person-year 4 | ||||||||
| Low | 6940 | 30.0 | 3687 | 30.9 | 3253 | 29.1 | 0.0017 | |
| Medium | 9257 | 40.0 | 4658 | 39.0 | 4599 | 41.1 | ||
| High | 6938 | 30.0 | 3597 | 30.1 | 3341 | 29.8 | ||
| Mean ± SD (1000 KRW) | 24.1 | 24.2 | 24.0 | 25.2 | 24.1 | 23.1 | 0.6745 | |
| Medication adherence | Medication possession ratio | |||||||
| ≥80% | 9454 | 40.9 | 5075 | 42.5 | 4379 | 39.1 | <0.0001 | |
| <80% | 13,681 | 59.1 | 6867 | 57.5 | 6814 | 60.9 | ||
| Mean ± SD | 64.8 | 28.8 | 65.5 | 29.0 | 64.1 | 28.6 | 0.0003 | |
Abbreviation: KRW, Korean Won; SD, standard deviation; USD, United States dollars; KRW: the exchange rate on 5 June 2020 (1 USD ≈ 1203 KRW; 1 p-values were obtained from Chi-square test or t-test; 2 Urban: cities including metropolises (Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, and Ulsan), rural: countryside; 3 Tertiary general hospital: certified by the government among general hospitals, general hospital: ≥100 sickbeds, hospital: 30–99 sickbeds, clinic: <30 sickbeds, health center: no beds; 4 Low: lower 30 percentiles or medical-aid beneficiaries, medium: 31–70 percentiles, high: upper 30 percentiles.