Increasing comorbidities in a South Korea insured population‐based cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis B

Summary Background It is controversial whether chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients have more non‐liver comorbidities than non‐CHB subjects. Aim To characterise the demographics, comorbidity and health utilisation of CHB patients in South Korea and compare them to matched controls. Methods Using the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) 2007‐2016 database, adult patients with claims for CHB analysed. CHB cases and non‐CHB controls matched in a 1:4 ratio using propensity score matching method. Results The age of CHB patients significantly increased from a mean 46.9 years in 2007 to 52.3 years in 2016. The proportions of persons having both liver‐related and non‐liver related comorbidities were higher in CHB patients compared to matched controls (dyslipidaemia [37.23% vs 23.77%, P < 0.0001], hypertension [29.39% vs 25.27%, P < 0.0001] chronic kidney disease (CKD) [3.02% vs 1.14%, P < 0.0001] and osteoporosis/fracture [OF] [4.09% vs 3.23%, P < 0.0001]). Approximately 50% of CHB patients had more than one comorbidity among CKD, diabetes, DLP, and OF. The odds of CKD in CHB patients were 1.42 times higher, and the odds of OF in CHB patients were 1.09 times higher than matched controls after adjustment for confounders ( P < 0.0001). Conclusion Prevalence of liver as well as non‐liver comorbidities in patients with CHB was higher than matched controls and increased over time.