Disease Burden of the Kidney Disabled in Korea, 2009–2013: The Gap with That of the Non-Kidney Disabled Continues

Kidney disability due to kidney failure could be considered to be the most severe of all the internal-organ disabilities. The purpose of this study was to identify the disease burden between the kidney and non-kidney disabled among the internal-organ disabled, based on the number of chronic diseases, annual out-of-pocket expenditure, and quality of life. From 2009 to 2013, 308 people (6.5%) with internal-organ disabilities were extracted out of 4732 people with disabilities in the Korea Health Panel. We compared the disease burden of 136 people with kidney disability (44.2%) and 172 people with non-kidney disability (55.8%), and confirmed the trend of disease burden over five years through panel analysis. The disease burden gap between kidney and non-kidney disabilities was, respectively, the number of chronic diseases (4.7 vs. 3.3, p < 0.0001), annual out-of-pocket expenditure ($1292 vs. $847, p < 0.004), and quality of life score out of 100 (49.2 vs. 60.2, p < 0.0001). In addition, when looking at the five-year trend of the three disease burden indexes, the kidney disabled were consistently worse than the non-kidney disabled (p < 0.01). In conclusion, health policy planners aiming for health equity need to seek practical strategies to reduce the gap in the disease burden among people with disabilities.