• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제44권6호
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• pp.249-259
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• 2011

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze long-term trends in the contribution of each cause of death to socioeconomic inequalities in all-cause mortality among Korean adults. Methods: Data were collected from death certificates between 1990 and 2004 and from censuses in 1990, 1995, and 2000. Age-standardized death rates by gender were produced according to education as the socioeconomic position indicator, and the slope index of inequality was calculated to evaluate the contribution of each cause of death to socioeconomic inequalities in all-cause mortality. Results: Among adults aged 25-44, accidental injuries with transport accidents, suicide, liver disease and cerebrovascular disease made relatively large contributions to socioeconomic inequalities in all-cause mortality, while, among adults aged 45-64, liver disease, cerebrovascular disease, transport accidents, liver cancer, and lung cancer did so. Ischemic heart disease, a very important contributor to socioeconomic mortality inequality in North America and Western Europe, showed a very low contribution (less than 3%) in both genders of Koreans. Conclusions: Considering the contributions of different causes of death to absolute mortality inequalities, establishing effective strategies to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in mortality is warranted.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제40권6호
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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.

• 지역사회간호학회지
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• 제12권3호
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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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• 제51권6호
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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 Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제40권5호
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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.

• 지역사회간호학회지
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• 제31권1호
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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 Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제38권3호
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• pp.267-275
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• 2005

Evidence on the relation of socioeconomic position (SEP) with health and illness is mounting in South Korea. Several unlinked studies and individually linked studies (longitudinal study) showed a graded inverse relationship between SEP and mortality among South Korean males and females. Based on the mortality relative ratios by occupational class reported in the published papers of South Korea and western countries, the magnitude of the socioeconomic inequality in mortality in South Korea seems to be similar to or even greater than that in western industrialized countries. A potential contribution of health related selection, health behaviors and psychosocial factors to explain this socioeconomic inequality in mortality was discussed. It was suggested that early life exposure measures would demonstrate a greater ability to explain socioeconomic inequalities in all-cause mortality than the above pathway variables in South Korea. This is based on the cause-specific structure of mortality among the South Korean population who have a relatively greater proportion of stomach cancer, hemorrhagic stroke, liver cancer and liver disease, and tuberculosis, which share early life exposures as important elements of their etiology, than western countries. However, the relative contribution of early and later life socioeconomic conditions in producing socioeconomic inequality in health may differ according to the outcome, thus remains to be investigated.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.50-58
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• 2023

Objectives: Socioeconomic inequality in metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains poorly understood in Iran. The present study examined the extent of the socioeconomic inequalities in MetS and quantified the contribution of its determinants to explain the observed inequality, with a focus on middle-aged adults in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the Ravansar Non-Communicable Disease cohort study. A sample of 9975 middleaged adults aged 35-65 years was analyzed. MetS was assessed based on the International Diabetes Federation definition. Principal component analysis was used to construct socioeconomic status (SES). The Wagstaff normalized concentration index (CI_n) was employed to measure the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in MetS. Decomposition analysis was performed to identify and calculate the contribution of the MetS inequality determinants. Results: The proportion of MetS in the sample was 41.1%. The CI_n of having MetS was 0.043 (95% confidence interval, 0.020 to 0.066), indicating that MetS was more concentrated among individuals with high SES. The main contributors to the observed inequality in MetS were SES (72.0%), residence (rural or urban, 46.9%), and physical activity (31.5%). Conclusions: Our findings indicated a pro-poor inequality in MetS among Iranian middle-aged adults. These results highlight the importance of persuading middle-aged adults to be physically active, particularly those in an urban setting. In addition to targeting physically inactive individuals and those with low levels of education, policy interventions aimed at mitigating socioeconomic inequality in MetS should increase the focus on high-SES individuals and the urban population.

• 보건교육건강증진학회지
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• 제27권1호
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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.

• 한국치위생학회지
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• 제24권1호
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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.