Cerebrovascular Disease: Recent Progress in Research and Clinical Practice (12) : Economical Aspects of Cerebrovascular Diseases in Japan

摘要

The death rate associated with Cerebrovascular diseases in Japan reached the highest value in the 1970u27s and has declined consistently since then. This decrease in mortality rate is considered to have resulted from advancement in preventive measures against hypertension and other risk factors and treatment methods. The burden of high medical costs remains mainly due to the highest prevalence rate of hospitalization, especially among those over 65 years of age, longer duration of hospital stay, of over 100 days on average, than in patients with other diseases. The demand to reduce the incidence of cerebral infarction, which presently constitutes over 60% of cerebrovascular diseases is strong as the death rate of cerebral infarction remains as high as 100 per 100,000 in both men and women, while that of cerebral hemorrhage has continued decline since the 1960u27s. In addition, as advanced and more effective therapeutic methods are being implemented for treatment in both acute and chronic phases of the disease, improvement in the prognosis of patients can be expected though prevention of persistent disabilities.