JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) causes decreased blood flow to the lower extremities by narrowing the blood vessels, and it can cause symptoms such as leg pain, discomfort, and intermittent claudication. More than 200 million people worldwide are estimated to have PAD. There is a need to identify trends in PAD incidence and prevalence to develop appropriate interventions.

Objective:

This study aimed to identify the hospital utilization characteristics to determine the trends in the incidence and prevalence of PAD in South Korea.

Methods:

This retrospective study used national claims data from 2009 to 2018 in South Korea. Adults aged ≥20 years, <90 years who received PAD as a primary diagnosis from 2011 to 2018 were included. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the hospital utilization characteristics, incidence, prevalence, endovascular revascularization (EVR), amputation, and in-hospital deaths. Patients were stratified according to age, sex, and insurance status.

Results:

In terms of hospital use characteristics, females frequently used clinics and males used tertiary hospitals. From 2011 to 2018, the average of new PAD patients was 124,682 in 2018, and 993,048 were prevalent in 2018. The incidence of PAD per 1,000 individuals increased from 2.58 in 2012 to 3.39 in 2018. In 2011, the prevalence of PAD per 1,000 individuals was 3.93, which constantly increased to 23.55 in 2018. From 2011 to 2018, the number of EVR cases fluctuated throughout the study period, it increased from 933, and amputations showed a decreasing pattern.

Conclusions:

In South Korea, the number of patients with PAD is gradually increasing, and our findings suggest the need for prevention and management of PAD. As this study was based on national claims data of all South Korean citizens, the results can be generalized and used in the clinical setting. Clinical Trial: Not applicable.