the differences in medical and nursing care costs between depopulated areas and non-depopulated areas

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18582
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Sociology and related fields
• Research Institution: Kochi University
• Principal Investigator: Miyano Ichiro 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系連携医学部門, 准教授 (00437740)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 畠山 豊 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系連携医学部門, 准教授 (00376956) ; 北岡 裕章 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系臨床医学部門, 教授 (10274375) ; 安田 誠史 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系連携医学部門, 教授 (30240899)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 医療費 / 介護費用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to clarify the differences in medical and nursing care costs between depopulated areas and non-depopulated areas and the factors behind them. The period of this study was three months from January 2016 to March 2016, and the average medical and long-term care costs per person per month were calculated. Target population is 2990 depopulated areas, 3575 non-populated areas. Medical and outpatient medical expenses were higher in depopulated areas than in non-depopulated areas, and care costs were higher in non-depopulated areas than in depopulated areas. As a result of analysis of outpatient medical expenses using the dispensing receipt, no significant difference was found in the number of medical institutions visited, and the number of pharmacies dispensed and the number of types of internal medicine in depopulated areas were more than in non-depopulated areas.

Free Research Field

公衆衛生

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の分析結果から、医療資源の乏しい過疎地域では、住民が市外および2次医療圏外の医療機関を受診せざるを得ない状況であるため、遠方の医療機関を受診することとなり、医療機関の近くの薬局で薬剤を受け取ることが多くなること、そして、その結果、処方薬の管理が各医療機関・薬局毎になり、処方薬剤数の増加、外来医療費の増加に結びついている可能性が考えられた。過疎地域においては、行政、医療・福祉関連機関等の連携のもと医療・介護連携システムの構築が必要と考えられ、本研究成果はその根拠となるものと考える。