• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.609-619
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• 2001

This cross-sectional study is to measure the distribution of self-reported health by income, house type, level of education, income satisfaction and self reported social class in an effort to compare the level of health inequality in Korea. The data used in the research are the Social Statistics Survey undertaken in 1999. The correlation coefficient was used to measure the association between inequalities in health and inequalities in socioeconomic status. The correlation coefficient was the most significant between self-reported health and the level of education and income satisfaction. As for the health-related behavior, hypertension, smoking, overweight and drinking were shown to be highly correlated with self-reported health.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.431-438
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• 2007

Objectives : The aim of this study is to summarize the current conditions and implications of health inequalities in South Korea. Methods : Through a literature review of empirical studies and supplementary analysis of the data presented in the 1998, 2001, and 2005 KNHANEs, we evaluated the extent and trends of socioeconomic inequalities in both health risk factors, such as smoking, physical activity, and obesity, and outcomes, such as total mortality, subjective poor health status by self-reports and metabolic syndrome. Relative risks and odds ratios were used to measure differences across socioeconomic groups, and the relative index of inequality was used to evaluate the changes in inequalities over time. Results : We found clear inequalities to various degrees?in most health indicators. While little change was observed in mortality differences over time, the socioeconomic gaps in risk factors and morbidity have been widening, with much larger differences among the younger population. Conclusions : Socioeconomic inequalities are pervasive across various health indicators, and some of them are increasing. The trends in socioeconomic inequalities in health should be carefully monitored, and comprehensive measures to alleviate health inequalities are needed, especially for young populations.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.404-410
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• 2007

Objectives: Due to the assumptions of homogeneity as well as challenges in the socioeconomic position of the elderly, they have been relatively neglected in studies of health inequalities. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the social inequalities in preventive services among elderly men and women. Methods: Data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 342 men and 525 women aged 65 and over collected during the 2001 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Age adjusted proportions and logistic regression were used to identify the social patterning of preventive services among elderly Koreans using various social position indicators. Results: The findings of this study generally supported the presence of social gradients in preventive services among the Korean elderly. The likelihood of using the service becomes progressively higher with social position. Educational level, income, and self-rated living status were significantly associated with increased medical checkups and cancer checks. In addition, logistic regression detected educational inequalities only among older women receiving BP checks. After being stratified based on health status and chronic disease status, social disparities still existed when educational level and self-rated living status were considered. Among unhealthy individuals, place of residence was observed as a barrier to medical checkups. Conclusions: This study demonstrated strong and consistent associations between socioeconomic position and preventive services among the elderly in Korea. The results indicate that public health strategies should be developed to reduce the barriers to preventive services encountered by the elderly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.289-297
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• 2018

Objectives: Obesity is a considerable and growing public health concern worldwide. The present study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in western Iran. Methods: A total of 10 086 participants, aged 35-65 years, from the Ravansar Non-communicable Disease Cohort Study (2014-2016) were included in the study to examine socioeconomic inequalities in obesity. We defined obesity as a body mass index ${\geq}30kg/m^2$. The concentration index and concentration curve were used to illustrate and measure wealth-related inequality in obesity. Additionally, we decomposed the concentration index to identify factors that explained wealth-related inequality in obesity. Results: Overall, the prevalence of obesity in the total sample was 26.7%. The concentration index of obesity was 0.04; indicating that obesity was more concentrated among the rich (p<0.001). Decomposition analysis indicated that wealth, place of residence, and marital status were the main contributors to the observed inequality in obesity. Conclusions: Socioeconomic-related inequalities in obesity among adults warrant more attention. Policies should be designed to reduce both the prevalence of obesity and inequalities in obesity by focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, urban residents, and married individuals.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the socioeconomic status and oral health of adults. Methods: Data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2018) were analyzed, and 13,199 adults aged 19 years or older were selected as study subjects. Various oral health indicators were used to analyze the effect of socioeconomic status on oral health. Disparities in oral health according to socioeconomic status were analyzed using the complex sample chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: A statistically significant difference was observed between income level, medical aid, and all oral health indicators, which indicated that the lower the income level, the lower the oral health level (p<0.001). Furthermore, all oral health indicators displayed statistically significant differences, with the exception of the prevalence of dental caries and education level. The lower the education level, the lower the oral health level (p<0.001). Therefore, the oral health level of adults presented significant differences according to different socioeconomic status indicators. Conclusions: To prevent oral health inequalities, the government and local governments need to intervene not only in the field of health care but also in the social determinants. Additionally, concerted efforts should be made to eliminate oral health disparities by improving policies and systems.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2010

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in oral health and to investigate the extent to which socioeconomic disparities in oral health are attenuated by oral health related consciousness and behaviors. Methods: We used data from the third 2006 Korea National Oral Health Survey(KNOHS) and a total of 3,457 subjects aged over 18 years were analyzed. The dependent variable was periodontal conditions which is devided into dichotomy, that is, health and ill-health, using the Community Periodontal Index(CPI) in KNOHS. Socioeconomic status(SES) were measured by educational attainment, income and residential area. Age, gender, oral health consciousness(self-assessed oral health status, concern about oral health and self-perceived dental treatment needs and behaviors(brushing, use of dental floss and dental visits) were adjusted in binary logistic regression analysis. Results and Conclusion: The results show that oral health consciousness and behaviors do not mediate the relationship between SES and periodontal health and there might be limitations to attenuate socioeconomic disparities in oral health only by changing of either oral health consciousness or(and) behaviors. Our findings suggest that more definite oral health policies and dental health education among adults with lower education will need in order to improve oral health.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2020

Purpose: This study explored the contribution of social support resources to the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities in depressive symptoms of older Korean men and women. Methods: Data were derived from Living Profiles of Older People Survey (LPOPS), which comprises a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized Korean older adults living in the community. The data were analyzed by using multiple logistic regression. The sample consisted of 4,046 men and 6,036 women aged ≥65 years. The Korean version of the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short form (SGDS-K) was employed as an outcome variable. Results: Compared to the older men and women who were in higher socioeconomic status, those in lower socioeconomic status had significantly higher risk of depressive symptoms after adjusting for other covariates. When social support resources were individually included in the base model, each factor contributed to inequalities in depressive symptoms. Social networks explained about 20% of the differential impact of education and 10% to 15% of the differential impact of household income for depressive symptoms in men. Among women, it mitigated 23.6% to 39.0% of education and household income inequalities for depressive symptoms. Social participation contributed to buffer depressive symptom inequalities of 24.0% to 46.3% among men and those of 11.7% to 45.3% among women. Conclusion: Our findings suggest community care nurses acknowledge the value of social support resources to alleviate socioeconomic inequality in depressive symptoms among older men and women.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.162-173
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• 2009

Purpose: This study investigated the health and socioeconomic status of single-parent and partnered families, and examined the intersection between sex and single-parent status focusing on inequalities of health and socioeconomic status. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using the data from the nationally representative 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 14,827 respondents had custody of their own children and other family members (13,943 were coupled families and 891 were single-parent). Results: Our result indicate that single-parent had poorer health status and were more likely to have lower educational attainment, lower household income, no home ownership and be unemployed. However, the association between single-parent status and socioeconomic and health inequality were in divergent ways according to sex. The most socioeconomically disadvantaged were single-parent women. Inequalities in health differ markedly by sex but vary little according to single-parent status. Conclusions: An uneven distribution of socioeconomic resources might help us to understand why single-parent, both women and men, have worse health than parents who live together. Previously recognized sex gap with regard to health status also might help us to understand the difference in health between single-parent men and single-parent women found here.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2231-2238
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• 2014

This study investigated how self-rated health and socioeconomic status are associated with behaviour of cancer survivors regarding desire for information. For this association, we compared survivors who did not seek information about cancer with those who did. We examined how sociodemographic, socioeconomic, cancerrelated, and health information factors are associated with self-rated health (SRH) by health information seeking/avoiding behavior in a survey of 502 post-treatment cancer patients. In the information seeking group, all four factors exhibited significant relationships with SRH. SRH values were significantly high for women (p<0.05), non-Hispanic White (p<0.05), and educated (p<0.01) participants, and for those who had high self-efficacy to use health information by themselves (p<0.01). Furthermore, in the information avoiding group, not only were there no significant relationships between socioeconomic status (SES) and SRH, but there were negative associations between their attitude/capacity and the SRH. In terms of communication equity, the promotion of information seeking behavior can be an effective way to reduce health disparities that are caused by social inequalities. Information avoiding behavior, however, does not exhibit a negative contribution toward the relationship between SRH and SES. Information seeking behavior was positively associated with SRH, but avoiding behavior was not negatively associated. We thus need to eliminate communication inequalities using health intervention to support information seeking behavior, while simultaneously providing support for avoiders.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.50-61
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• 2010

Objectives: The study is investigated socioeconomic variations in self-rated health status and contribution of health behavioral factors in Korea. Methods: A nationally representative sample (2,800 men and 3,230 women aged 20-64 years) from the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Surveys was analyzed using logistic regression. Results: Self-rated health was lower among lower socioeconomic groups compared with higher socioeconomic groups, with gender being irrelevant. This association was attenuated when health behavioral and socio-demographic factors were adjusted. When each health behavioral factor was considered separately, mediators such as smoking in men, and stress or exercise in women explained a large part of the decreased socioeconomic health inequalities. Conclusions: In Korea, subjective health inequalities arise from different socioeconomic status, but this difference is decreased by health behavioral factors. Therefore, socioeconomic inequity in self-rated health status can be corrected more effectively by promotional health behaviors.