Prevalence, Characteristics, and Healthcare Needs of Patients Living With Nasoenteric Feeding Tubes at Home in South Korea: Emerging Needs of Older Adult Patients

INTRODUCTION: As the population ages, the number of patients requiring nutritional support with a nasoenteric tube (NET) has increased. This study investigated the prevalence, incidence, and characteristics of patients with a NET at home in South Korea. METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted using data from the National Health Insurance claims database. The study population included adult patients (aged ≥ 19 years) with NET claims at home between January and December 2019. The prevalence and incidence of patients with a NET at home were calculated per 100,000 adults. Demographic characteristics, clinical diagnoses, and healthcare utilization were also investigated. RESULTS: We identified a prevalence of 41.2 per 100,000 adults (n = 18,614) and an incidence of 23.5 per 100,000 adults (n = 10,631) for patients with a NET at home in 2019. For prevalent patients with a NET at home, the mean (standard deviation) age was 79.6 years (± 12.6), and 68.0% were females. A total of 92.2% of the participants had neurological conditions, 5.0% had gastrointestinal problems, and 2.7% were diagnosed with cancer. The predominant conditions were cerebrovascular disease (44.3%), dementia (30.2%), and other neurodegenerative diseases (10.5%). Approximately two-thirds of the respondents used hospital-based homecare nursing services (62.6%). The mean number of outpatient visits per year was 28.7 ( ± 25.9). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 18,000 patients with a NET live at home, and 10,000 new cases occur annually. Most patients are older adults with neurological conditions, especially cerebrovascular diseases and dementia. Designing optimal home-based medical care services for this population is thus warranted.