Translation of Korean Medicine Use to ICD-Codes Using National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort

Abstract EN

Background.

Korean medicine was incorporated into the Korean Classification of Diseases (KCD) 6 through the development of U codes (U20–U99).

Studies of the burden of disease have used summary measures such as disability-adjusted life years.

Although Korean medicine is included in the official health care system, studies of the burden of disease that include Korean medicine are lacking.

Methods.

A data-based approach was used with National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort data for the year 2012.

U code diagnoses for patients covered by National Health Insurance were collected.

Using the main disease and subdisease codes, the proportion of U codes was redistributed into the related KCD 6 codes and visualized.

U code and KCD code relevance was appraised prior to the analysis by consultation with medical professionals and from the beta draft version of the International Classification of Diseases-11 traditional medicine chapter.

Results.

This approach enabled redistribution of U codes into KCD 6 codes.

Musculoskeletal diseases had the greatest increase in the burden of disease through this approach.

Conclusion.

This study provides a possible method of incorporating Korean medicine into burden of disease analyses through a data-based approach.

Further studies should analyze potential yearly differences.