Nationwide epidemiology and healthcare utilization of spine tumor patients in the adult Korean population, 2009-2012

Abstract

Background. The aim of this nationwide study was to describe the incidence and health care utilization of adult Korean patients with primary malignant, primary nonmalignant, and metastatic spine tumors between 2009 and 2012. Methods. Patients with primary and metastatic spine tumors were identified from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012. Demographics, incidence rate, annual medical cost, and annual hospital stay of each new patient were reviewed. Results. Of 1600 primary spine tumors diagnosed from 2009 to 2012, 373 (23.3%) weremalignant, and 1227 (76.7%) were nonmalignant. The most common tumor type was neoplasm of spinal cord among primary malignant (C72.0, 51.5%) and primary nonmalignant (D33.4, 66.2%) spine tumors. Differences in primary malignant, primary nonmalignant, and metastatic spine tumor incidence by sex were significant (P=.004,