The Japanese national health screening and intervention program aimed at preventing worsening of the metabolic syndrome
The Japanese national health screening and intervention program aimed at preventing worsening of the metabolic syndrome
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DOI：
10.1536/ihj.49.193
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发表时间：
2008-03-01
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
Nagai, Ryozo
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kohro, Takahide;Furui, Yuji;Nagai, Ryozo
与其他工业化国家的医疗体系类似，日本的医疗体系也面临着医疗支出增加的问题。在日本，这种情况可能主要归因于先进的技术发展、人口老龄化和日益增长的患者需求。由于出生率低，日本还面临着青年人口下降的问题。综上所述，这些问题使医疗体系面临着非常困难的财务状况。为了控制医疗开支，已经进行了几项改革，例如将医疗保险的雇员自付比例从1997年的10%提高到20%，并在2003年从20%提高到30%，以减少不必要的医疗机构就诊。由于日本人口老龄化是不可避免的，控制医疗支出的合适方法可能是对可能患上与生活方式相关的疾病的个人进行筛查，并对他们进行早期干预计划，以防止心肌梗死或中风等治疗成本高昂的疾病的发展。如果达到这一目标，可能有助于控制医疗支出，改善老年人的生活质量。因此，日本厚生劳动省决定从2008年4月开始在全国范围内推出专门针对代谢综合征的健康筛查和干预计划。在这里，我们讨论(1)日本医疗体系的背景和面临的问题，(2)新筛查计划的基本目标和细节，以及(3)该计划的预期影响。
Similar to the healthcare systems in other industrialized countries, the Japanese healthcare system is facing the problem of increasing medical expenditure. In Japan, this situation may be primarily attributed to advanced technological developments, an aging population, and increasing patient demand. Japan also faces the problem of a declining youth population due to a low birth rate. Taken together, these problems present the healthcare system with a very difficult financial situation. Several reforms have been undertaken to contain medical expenditure, such as increasing employee copayment for health insurance from 10% to 20% in 1997 and from 20% to 30% in 2003 in order to curb unnecessary visits to medical institutions. Since the aging of the Japanese population is inevitable, a suitable method to contain medical expenditure may be to screen individuals who are likely to develop lifestyle-related diseases and conduct early intervention programs for them to prevent the development of diseases such as myocardial infarction or stroke that are costly to treat. If this goal is attained, it may contribute to the containment of medical expenditure as well as to improving the quality of life of the elderly. Therefore, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to introduce a nationwide health screening and intervention program specifically targeting the metabolic syndrome commencing April 2008. Here, we discuss (1) the background of the Japanese healthcare system and the problems facing it, (2) the underlying objective and details of the new screening program, and (3) the expected impact of the program.