Effect of a Comprehensive Health Care Program by Korean Medicine Doctors on Medical Care Utilization for Common Infectious Diseases in Child-Care Centers

As the role of traditional medicine in community health improvement increases, a comprehensive health care program for infectious diseases management in child-care centers by Korean medicine doctors was developed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the program intervention on infection-related medical care utilization among children. The study used a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control group, comparing pre- and post-intervention data of the same children. The program implemented interventions in terms of management, education, and medical examination for the teachers, parents, and children in 12-week period. The frequency of utilization, cost, and prescription days of drugs and antibiotics due to infectious diseases prior to the intervention were compared with those during the 3-month intervention, using health insurance claim data. A panel analysis was also conducted to support the findings. A significant reduction (12%) in infection-related visit days of hospitals was observed with the intervention (incident rate ratio = 0.88, P = 0.01). And medical cost, drug prescription days, and antibiotics prescription days were decreased, although not statistically significant. A further cost-effectiveness analysis in terms of social perspectives, considering the opportunity costs for guardians to take children to medical institutions, would be needed.