Trends and Factors Affecting Participation Rate in Korean National Health Screening among People with Disabilities

Background: People with disabilities have higher prevalence rates and earlier onset of chronic disease than the non-disabled; therefore, their participation in health screening is important. This study evaluates the participation rate and trends in health screening of people with disabilities, and examines the association between their participation rate and disability characteristics, and socioeconomic status. Methods: Data on disability-related characteristics were collected from the National Disability Registry, and participants' corresponding health examination data were taken from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation between 2002 and 2011. A total of 873,819 participants aged ${\geq}20$ years were analyzed in this study. Results: The rate of participation of people with disabilities in health screening has increased each year, but their participation rate is lower than that of the total population. The participation rate was lower in females than in males; the elderly group than in the younger group; those who live in city areas than rural areas; self-employed for health insurance than employees; those with an internal organ disability than those with an external physical disability; those with a severe disability than those with a mild disability; and those with a short-term disability than for those with a long-term disability. Conclusion: The factors associated with participation rate are age, sex, socioeconomic status, and disability characteristics. These findings indicate that health check-ups of people with disabilities should be promoted using an approach that takes into account the large individual differences in socioeconomic status and disability characteristics in this population.

우리나라 20세 이상 장애인 건강검진 수검률 추이 및 관련 요인분석