2023 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 36-41
In Japan, national medical expenses are steadily increasing annually, and the financial burden on patients has followed a similar trend. This burden may contribute to frequent interruptions in prescribed therapeutic regimens. In particular, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, it is important to evaluate regimen efficacy not only from the index of glycemic control but also psychologically, including satisfaction with their treatment. Herein, we examined the relationship between the burden of paying medical expenses and the degree of treatment satisfaction in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2. As a result, more than 40% of patients felt burdened with paying medical expenses, this group being younger and paid more than those who did not feel burdened. In addition, the majority of the burdened cohort used injectable preparations and treatment satisfaction scores were also lower in this cohort. From the above findings, it was considered that several factors, such as age, dosage form used, and rate of out-of-pocket expenses were related to the feeling of burden of payment for medical expenses and treatment satisfaction. However, it is often difficult for medical institutions to intervene in these factors. Although the degree of treatment satisfaction can be increased by the attitudes and care of medical staff. The burden reduction associated with being able to pay medical expenses may lead to improvements in the degree of treatment satisfaction.
