Background and purpose: The National Responsibility Policy for Dementia Care was implemented in September 2017 in Korea. This study aimed to compare dementia incidence in Seoul and Gangwon-do before and after the implementation of this policy.
Methods: We extracted insurance claim data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for people diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia for the first time in Seoul and Gangwon-do, Korea. We defined two enrollment groups based on the policy implementation date: 1) January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016 (Index 1, pre-implementation), and 2) January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018 (Index 2, post-implementation). Each group was followed up for 1 year from the time of enrollment. Then, we calculated hazard ratios to compare the incidence of dementia between the two groups, and between Seoul and Gangwon-do.
Results: In Seoul, the incidence of dementia was significantly lower in Index 2 than in Index 1 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.926; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.875-0.979). However, the incidence rate did not differ between the 2 groups (HR, 1.113; 95% CI, 0.966-1.281) in Gangwon-do. In Index 1, the incidence of dementia did not differ between Seoul and Gangwon-do (HR, 1.043; 95% CI, 0.941-1.156), but in Index 2, was significantly higher in Gangwon-do than in Seoul (HR, 1.240; 95% CI, 1.109-1.386).
Conclusions: After implementing the National Responsibility Policy for Dementia Care, the dementia incidence rate decreased significantly in Seoul, consistent with other studies, but not in Gangwon-do.
Keywords: Dementia; Health Policy; Healthcare Disparities.
© 2023 Korean Dementia Association.