• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.49-61
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• 2024

South Korea faces a declining population and rural areas vanishing due to urbanization. Infrastructure, especially medical facilities, may not be sustainable for a long-term. This may impact vulnerable groups like children, teens, and the elderly, worsened by an aging population and low birth rates. Gangwon-do, notably Chuncheon-si, suffers from rural depopulation and poor healthcare self-sufficiency. In this paper, using 2SFCA(Two-Step Floating Catchment Area), we analyze healthcare access in Chuncheon-si, identifying gaps and vulnerable areas. LISA analysis helps map medical vulnerability, considering patient demand and supply. The Gini coefficient assesses spatial inequality. We propose distributing healthcare services and personnel based on age and region. The aim is to identify locations for additional hospitals catering to the elders, Infants, Children, and Adolescents,considering spatial accessibility.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.235-260
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• 2009

This study aims to analyze consumption inequality of Korean elderly households. The justification for analyzing consumption inequality during old age could be summarized as follows. First, due to the rapid growth of elderly population, the intra generational inequality of older people will bring greater consequences to the society in the coming years. Second, inequality is more actualized during old age when income stops playing a major role and the everyday lives are based mostly on consumption activities. For analysis, this study used the 2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th wave of 『Korea Labor and Income Panel Study』. The findings are as follows. First, total consumption inequality of elderly households is gradually decreasing after the economic crisis. Also, the gini coefficient of consumption items representing modern consumption culture, such as expenditures on eating out and car maintenance is decreasing. However, the inequality contribution rate of such items is continually rising, indicating that whereas the elderly households in general are being assimilated to the mainstream consumption culture, the disparity between classes is continually expanding. Second, gini coefficient and inequality contribution rate of the essentials such as food and housing has decreased indicating that basic livelihoods in general has risen. Third, the inequality of education expenditure is increasing after the year 2000 which implies that the problem of education inequality in general might have an effect on elderly households.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.289-309
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• 2023

While South Korea's universal healthcare system has garnered attention in public health, the issue of inequality in healthcare service provision among different age groups has incessantly become a significant concern. The focus of this concern is primarily on essential healthcare services, encompassing fundamental aspects of healthcare such as internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatric and adolescent care. This inequality is not limited to differences among age groups (both junior and senior demographics) but also extends to potential disparities in healthcare services based on geographic location, particularly in urban and rural contexts. This paper aims to investigate disparities in primary healthcare service resources in South Korea's evolving economic landscape between 1995 and 2021. We utilize a set of inequality indices with a spatial perspective through geographic cluster analysis. The findings reveal that concerns about inequality have been amplified during various economic events, including the IMF crisis in 1999, the global financial crisis in 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. These years are identified as significant phases that have contributed to manifesting spatial disparities in primary healthcare provisions, with a particular emphasis on the senior-aged population rather than junior or all population groups. Our findings underscore the pressing need to address the unequal distribution of essential healthcare resources as part of preparedness for potential economic impacts, requiring a comprehensive consideration of the interconnected nature of demographic and spatial dimensions in healthcare services.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2009

Objectives: This study was conducted to examine health inequality for gender and region in Korea. Especially it focused on health status such as disease prevalence and medical utilization of rural women. Methods: Data from the Korea national health and nutrition survey in 2001 were used. The final sample size was 37,108 individuals with age 20 and over. This study applied the logistic regression for nominal variables such as disease prevalence and unmet care needs and with the regression for continuos variables such as the length and costs of medical services. Results: Rates of disease prevalence and unmet care needs for chronic disease in rural area are higher than those in middle cities and big cities, and regional differences of those for women are more than those for mens with controlling ages. There could be interaction effect with region and sex. Conclusions: This study suggests that health policy maker should take consider of special status of rural women who are in health inequality.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.239-248
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• 2010

Objective: Despite the increasing number of female participation in employment, blue-collar women have been exposed to higher health risk. This study is to describe the prevalence of chronic diseases, health behaviors, and medical service utilization of female blue-collar workers. Methods: Data were derived from the 2001 Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHANES). The sample was made up of 37,108 male and female participants aged 20 or over selected nation-wide by probability sampling from Korea. This study applied the logistic regression for nominal variables such as disease prevalence and health behaviors and with the regression for continuos variables such as the length and costs of medical services. Results: In general, women's prevalence of chronic illness and uncured rate were significantly higher than male, and especially female blue-collar workers had the highest prevalence, uncured rate, unhealthy status, and perceived stress. However, the medical care cost was the lowest in female blue-collar workers. Conclusions: The findings suggest that female blue-collar workers were more likely to experience health problems, and that despite the highest health risk, health service is not effectively utilized, and health policy maker should take consider of special status of female blue collar workers who are in health inequality.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.305-305
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• 2005

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.219-225
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• 2017

This article examined the condition of medical service utilization and the usage degree for the disabled in Korea, and analyzed factors affecting medical service utilization. This paper offers data for improving the health of disabled Korea residents and for enhancing medical service utilization. We analyzed data for disabled residents aged 19 from the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Results found significant effects depending on gender, age, average monthly income, types of disorders, disability rating, and status of smoking. Concerning gender, men had a higher probability of lacking medical treatment compared with women, had increased probability of having a disability, and smokers had a higher probability of lacking treatment compared with nonsmokers. Therefore, for resolving medically untreated disabled Korean residents, government needs to improve the policy system and to managethe inequality of handicapped welfare work.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.217-229
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• 2014

This study was performed to identify neighborhood deprivation indicators associated with health and to test the contextual effects of those indicators on individual health. This study calculated SMR based on Dong district and see the differences of prediction across deprivation index and indicators. Then, a multi-level analysis using HGLM was conducted to test the contextual effect of neighborhood depreivation indicators on health after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic status of individuals. The results showed that regional SMR had strong correlations with land price, education, welfare recipients, female household proportion in Dong district but failed to show the correlation with individual health and neighborhood deprivation. Individual health was only associated with individual level of demographic and socioeconomic status. That is, spatial dispersion of illness is understood as the distribution of social classes in terms of socioeconomic status of individuals, not the contextual aspects of community.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.337-346
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• 2019

This study aimed to assess trends in the prevalence, treatment, and control of diabetes according to the socio-economic level in Korean adults aged ${\geq}30$ years, using the 2007-2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Socio-economic status was assessed based on the household income. Multivariable logistic regression and predictive margins were used to evaluate the adjusted proportion of diabetes prevalence, awareness, treatment, and adequate glycemic control. During 2007-2017, the socio-economic inequalities on diabetes prevalence were observed in both men and women. However, the gradient of inequality increased only in men (p for interaction=0.034). Diabetes awareness, treatment, and control did not show socio-economic inequalities or increasing gradients in both sexes. Monitoring of these trends should be continued, and further research on effective interventions is needed.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.435-445
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• 2017

This study was conducted to overcome the limitations of prior research on the equity of medical care performed by identifying simple differences in the use of medical care or using limited medical needs and medical utilization indicators. Specifically, we used activity limits, chronic diseases, and subjective health status as medical needs, and used outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services as medical uses. In addition, we used concentration index, concentration curve, and Le Grand factor to analyze the equity of medical use considering medical needs. The main results are as follows. First, the amount of medical care for the low-income class is higher than that of the high-income class when considering the concentration of medical use. In particular, the number of hospitalization days for low-income households and hospitalization fees were higher than the fees of outpatient medical consultation and emergency room usage. Second, medical needs were concentrated in the low income class. In other words, low-income group is not as healthy as the high-income group. Third, the Le Grand factor was calculated in order to confirm the fairness of the medical uses considering the medical needs. Even if medical needs are taken into consideration, the high-income earners will have a large amount of medical care. In addition, when considering the limitation of activity and the number of chronic diseases, the medical use of the high income class was more frequent. However, when the subjective health condition and the chronic illness were considered, medical use of the low income class was more frequent. This may be due to the underestimation of the medical needs of the low-income earners by neglecting their own health status and perception of chronic diseases.