IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jorssa/v185y2022i3p1319-1343.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of epidemic outbreak on healthcare usage: Lessons from the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Jinhwan Park
  • Duk Bin Jun
  • Sungho Park

Abstract

When an epidemic outbreak occurs, the demand for healthcare services may increase because more people may seek medical care regardless of their infection status. On the other hand, it may decrease because of the fear of getting infected while seeking treatment. Moreover, the epidemic may have lasting effects on individuals' healthcare service usage after it ends. Armed with a representative and detailed individual level healthcare usage dataset, we examine the dynamic effect of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak which occurred in South Korea in 2015. To be more specific, we select patients who lived in regions where the MERS outbreak took place as the treatment group, and patients who lived in regions where MERS‐related events never occurred as the control group. Using this sample, we apply a difference‐in‐difference approach with propensity score matching to investigate the effect of epidemic disease on individuals' healthcare service usage. We find that healthcare visits to treat minor diseases during the MERS outbreak showed a significant decrease of 3.7%. This effect was pronounced in large tertiary hospitals (22.7%) and among minors under age 10 (10.1%). We could not find significant changes in visits to treat serious diseases. However, visits to the emergency department showed a temporary but significant decrease (18.1%). After the end of the epidemic, healthcare visits to treat minor diseases significantly increased by 4.0%. This after‐effect was pronounced in secondary hospitals (8.7%) and primary healthcare facilities (3.9%) and among minors under age 10. We discuss the implications of our findings for various stakeholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Jinhwan Park & Duk Bin Jun & Sungho Park, 2022. "The effect of epidemic outbreak on healthcare usage: Lessons from the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 185(3), pages 1319-1343, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:185:y:2022:i:3:p:1319-1343
    DOI: 10.1111/rssa.12798
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rssa.12798
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rssa.12798?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sungwook Yoon & Duk Bin Jun & Sungho Park, 2020. "The effect of general health checks on healthcare utilization: accounting for self‐selection bias," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 183(1), pages 3-36, January.
    2. Agüero, Jorge M. & Beleche, Trinidad, 2017. "Health shocks and their long-lasting impact on health behaviors: Evidence from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 40-55.
    3. Jesse Margolis & Jason Hockenberry & Michael Grossman & Shin-Yi Chou, 2014. "Moral Hazard and Less Invasive Medical Treatment for Coronary Artery Disease: The Case of Cigarette Smoking," NBER Working Papers 20373, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Philipson, Tomas & Posner, Richard A, 1994. "Public Spending on AIDS Education: An Economic Analysis," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 17-38, April.
    5. Christopher J. Cronin & William N. Evans, 2020. "Private Precaution and Public Restrictions: What Drives Social Distancing and Industry Foot Traffic in the COVID-19 Era?," NBER Working Papers 27531, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. King, Gary & Zeng, Langche, 2001. "Logistic Regression in Rare Events Data," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 137-163, January.
    7. Goolsbee, Austan & Syverson, Chad, 2021. "Fear, lockdown, and diversion: Comparing drivers of pandemic economic decline 2020," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew G. Atkeson & Karen A. Kopecky & Tao Zha, 2024. "Four Stylized Facts About Covid‐19," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(1), pages 3-42, February.
    2. Antoine Marsaudon & Lise Rochaix, 2017. "Impact of acute health shocks on cigarette consumption
      [Impact d'un choc de santé sur la consommation de cigarette]      ," PSE Working Papers halshs-01626024, HAL.
    3. Sok Chul Hong & Eunju Lee & Seojung Oh, 2023. "Unintended health benefits of adopting preventive behaviors during a virus outbreak," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 324-342, February.
    4. Sumedha Gupta & Kosali I. Simon & Coady Wing, 2020. "Mandated and Voluntary Social Distancing During The COVID-19 Epidemic: A Review," NBER Working Papers 28139, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Bratsberg, Bernt & Godøy, Anna & Hart, Rannveig Kaldager & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Reme, Bjørn-Atle & Wörn, Jonathan, 2023. "Work Loss and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 15913, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Dave, Dhaval & Friedson, Andrew & Matsuzawa, Kyutaro & Sabia, Joseph J. & Safford, Samuel, 2022. "JUE Insight: Were urban cowboys enough to control COVID-19? Local shelter-in-place orders and coronavirus case growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    7. Bixuan Yang & Frank Asche & Tao Li, 2022. "Consumer behavior and food prices during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1437-1460, July.
    8. Anna Godøy & Maja Weemes Grøtting, 2023. "Implementation and spillovers of local non‐pharmaceutical interventions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 822-852, April.
    9. Engy Ziedan & Kosali I. Simon & Coady Wing, 2020. "Effects of State COVID-19 Closure Policy on NON-COVID-19 Health Care Utilization," NBER Working Papers 27621, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Angelini, Viola & Costa-Font, Joan, 2023. "Health and wellbeing spillovers of a partner's cancer diagnosis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 422-437.
    11. Andrew G. Atkeson & Karen Kopecky & Tao Zha, 2021. "Behavior and the Transmission of COVID-19," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 111, pages 356-360, May.
    12. Jorge M. Agüero & Trinidad Beleche, 2016. "Health Shocks and the Long-Lasting Change in Health Behaviors: Evidence from Mexico," Working papers 2016-26, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    13. Tatjana Dahlhaus & Daniel Hyun & Antoine Poulin-Moore & Jaime Trujillo & Saarah Sheikh & Benjamin Straus, 2022. "COVID-19, Containment and Consumption," Discussion Papers 2022-5, Bank of Canada.
    14. Edward L. Glaeser & Ginger Z. Jin & Benjamin T. Leyden & Michael Luca, 2021. "Learning from deregulation: The asymmetric impact of lockdown and reopening on risky behavior during COVID‐19," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 696-709, September.
    15. Mendolia, Silvia & Stavrunova, Olena & Yerokhin, Oleg, 2021. "Determinants of the community mobility during the COVID-19 epidemic: The role of government regulations and information," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 199-231.
    16. Antoine Marsaudon & Lise Rochaix, 2010. "Impact of acute health shocks on cigarette consumption: A combined DiD-matching strategy to address endogeneity issues in the French Gazel panel data," PSE Working Papers halshs-01626187, HAL.
    17. Boto-García, David, 2023. "Investigating the two-way relationship between mobility flows and COVID-19 cases," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    18. Cantor, Jonathan & Sood, Neeraj & Bravata, Dena M. & Pera, Megan & Whaley, Christopher, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and policy response on health care utilization: Evidence from county-level medical claims and cellphone data," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Cherry, Todd L. & James, Alexander G. & Murphy, James, 2021. "The impact of public health messaging and personal experience on the acceptance of mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 415-430.
    20. Agüero, Jorge M. & Beleche, Trinidad, 2017. "Health shocks and their long-lasting impact on health behaviors: Evidence from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 40-55.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:185:y:2022:i:3:p:1319-1343. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rssssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.