A Longitudinal Study on the Prevalence of Major Adult Chronic Disease in Korean Employees between 2001 and 2010

The Korean GDP per capita doubled during the last 10 years. As the GDP increases, Korean health behaviors such as, eating, drinking, smoking, and exercise habits changed as well. Compared to the remarkably advanced diagnostic technologies and therapeutics during the last decade, the leading causes of death in Korea scarcely changed. Among the leading causes of death, cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, diabetes, liver disease and hypertension are closely related to health behaviors. Using the database of medical check-up between 2001 and 2010, the authors performed a longitudinal study for the prevalence rates and the trends of major chronic adult diseases among the 2,721 workers along with their health behavior. Among the diagnostic test items, fasting blood sugar, cholesterol and BMI levels showed steady increase and these three test items all showed linear trends (p<0.001). The average blood sugar and cholesterol levels were near worrying levels. Moreover, the average BMI of males was found to be at the overweight level, intimating the possibility reaching thee Obese Class I level soon if there are no aggressive counter measures. Fasting blood sugar and cholesterol levels were higher in a drinking group as compared to a non-drinking group, and the BMI levels were also higher in the drinking group and the smoking group as compared to the non-drinking and the non-smoking group (p<0.001). Finally, the authors believe that the fasting blood sugar, cholesterol and BMI levels should be designated as target monitoring test items in the medical check-up for Korean employees.