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KMID : 1170320130190040001
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Korean Journal of Health Economics and Policy
2013 Volume.19 No. 4 p.1 ~ p.27
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Measures of Household Catastrophic Health Expenditure: Systematic Review and Implications
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Jung Young-Il
Lee Hye-Jae
Lee Tae-Jin
Kim Hong-Soo
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Abstract
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Besides improving health, health systems must work on protecting people from financial risks associated with medical spending. This can be measured by catastrophic health expenditure, which is defined as the case when medical spending exceeds a certain fraction of household income. Many studies have analyzed the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in Korea, but no concerted measure has been applied to them. Given the lack of reviews on this issue, this study attempted a systematic literature review on various definitions of catastrophic health expenditure and the consequential results. Total 24 studies were included. Data sources, study populations, the measures of catastrophic health expenditure, and the consequential incidences and determinants were summarized. Frequently used data sources were the Urban Household Expenditure Survey and Korea Welfare Panel Study. A households` capacity to pay was defined as household income, consumption expenditure, or consumption expenditure less food spending. There also existed studies used the term of ‘burden of medical cost’ instead of catastrophic health expenditure. The levels of analysis are mostly household. The findings of this review suggest that the concerted definition of capacity of pay need to be developed and applied to future studies on catastrophic health expenditure. Upcoming secondary data sources will enable researchers to investigate the dynamics of burdens of health expenditure and the consequences to subgroups who are vulnerable to financial risks.
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KEYWORD
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Catastrophic health expenditure, health expenditure, systematic review
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