Multimorbidity worldwide

Multimorbidity, the coexistence of multiple chronic diseases in an individual, increases with age in older adults. Therefore, it is very common that older adults have more than one chronic medical problem at the same time, which impacts treatment for each of the conditions. Multimorbidity is a growing concern worldwide, especially in countries with aging populations. Numerous previous studies have reported that multimorbidity is associated with functional decline (i.e., older adults cannot take care of themselves in some aspects or more), decreased quality of life, and possibly even higher mortality, all of which are of concern to older adults and those who care for them. Aside from the burden on the individual from the conditions, there is also a societal burden from the costs associated with care for these individuals.

Medical and long-term care insurance systems and these expenditures in Japan

Japan has a mandatory universal medical insurance system, established in 1961. It covers services provided by medical professionals (e.g., doctors, nurses, various therapists), diagnostic tests, prescriptions, surgery, and anesthesia. In addition to the universal medical insurance system, Japan also launched a mandatory public long-term care insurance system in 2000. Those aged 65 years and older, as well as those aged between 40 and 64 years with specific aging-related diseases, are eligible for services. These include not only institutional care, whether long-term admission or short-term stay in a long-term care facility, but also community- and home-based care such as adult day care, outpatient rehabilitation, home help, or home-visit nursing. Long-term care insurance is also available in other countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and South Korea.

通过医疗和长期护理支出的总和，可以更好地金博宝188app网站评估由多种多元疾病引起的社会经济负担……提供更精确的评估。

Asteady increase in health-related spending has been a great concern in countries with aging populations. For example, in Japan in 2016, the annual medical expenditures were approximately US$372 billion and the annual long-term care expenditures were approximately US$88 billion. These figures represent 9% and 21% increases, respectively, over the past 5 years. These expenditures are projected to further increase with a rapidly aging society, both in Japan and around the world.

多种多样和支出之间的关联

Inour recent study，我们使用医疗和长期护理索赔数据的数据与来自日本东京大都市郊区喀西瓦市的医疗和长期护理索赔数据进行了研究。众所周知，多种医学率与更高的医疗支出有关。我们发现，多种疾病也与较高的长期护理支出有关，从而增加了两种类型的支出的总和。我们的研究进一步表明，通过医疗和长期护理支出的总和，与仅通过医疗支出相比，可以更好地评估由多医生造成的社会金博宝188app网站经济负担，从而提供更高的评估。

日本是世界上最快速老化的社会之一，不仅拥有医疗，而且拥有长期护理保险系统。据我们所知，这是第一个研究多种繁重率与长期护理支出以及全球医疗和长期护理支出的总和的研究。由于与健康相关的支出的稳定增长一直是维持许多人口老龄化的国家可持续医疗保健系统的巨大威胁，因此我们的结果不仅对日本，而且在全球方面都有意义。降低多种多发病患病率的有效策略不仅可以为个人和社会提供医疗和功能性，而且还可以为个人和社会提供经济利益。