• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.297-306
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• 2022

Objectives: The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality is increasing in developing countries. This study aimed to decompose the socioeconomic inequality of CVD in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional population-based study was conducted on 20 519 adults who enrolled in the Ardabil Non-Communicable Disease cohort study. Principal component analysis and multivariable logistic regression were used, respectively, to estimate socioeconomic status and to describe the relationships between CVD prevalence and the explanatory variables. The relative concentration index, concentration curve, and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition model were used to measure and decompose the socioeconomic inequality. Results: The overall age-adjusted prevalence of CVD was 8.4% in northwest Iran. Multivariable logistic regression showed that older adults, overweight or obese adults, and people with hypertension and diabetes were more likely to have CVD. Moreover, people with low economic status were 38% more likely to have CVD than people with high economic status. The prevalence of CVD was mainly concentrated among the poor (concentration index, -0.077: 95% confidence interval, -0.103 to -0.060), and 78.66% of the gap between the poorest and richest groups was attributed to differences in the distribution of the explanatory variables included in the model. Conclusions: The most important factors affecting inequality in CVD were old age, chronic illness (hypertension and diabetes), marital status, and socioeconomic status. This study documented stark inequality in the prevalence of CVD, wherein the poor were more affected than the rich. Therefore, it is necessary to implement policies to monitor, screen, and control CVD in poor people living in northwest Iran.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.502-510
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• 2021

This study examines gender inequality in the Utopian literature through Bellamy's novelLooking Backward: 2000-1887. Boston, USA, in 2000 is an equal society in which production and distribution are performed efficiently, and everyone can work with an equal opportunity without discrimination. But a closer look at the social structure shows that housework and parenting are predominantly women's duties, and the jobs that women and men can have are differentiating. Therefore, it is hard to say that true gender equality has been achieved. In addition, we could see that there were still remnants of gender inequality, such as showing the notion of beauty judged by male standards. However, Bellamy's Looking Backward: 2000-1887 is meaningful in that it improved women's status and suggested the direction and hope of social development in the 19th century. This study further examined whether these gender inequality factors have disappeared in modern society and confirmed that there remain many gender inequality factors. Therefore, we should all work together to improve the perception of members of society and make changes in social policies so that there is no discrimination between women and men so that we can truly become a gender-equal society.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.211-232
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to verify whether the types of welfare attitudes are classified according to the welfare regimes. Specifically, this study tried to confirm whether the satisfaction and needs of the role of government for inequality reduction are divided into welfare regimes. For the purpose, this study conducted a comparative analysis of 24 European countries using the 6th European Social Survey (2012) and the Eurostat data. The main results of the analysis are summarized as follows. First, there is a difference in the satisfaction and needs of the role of government for the inequality reduction among the welfare regimes. Generally, the satisfaction is high in the Nordic countries, while the needs is high in the southern and eastern European countries. Second, there is a correlation that the country where the per capita welfare expenditure level is high and the redistribution effect is strong have high level of the satisfaction. Third, the types of welfare attitudes are classified according to the welfare regimes. In particular, the Nordic countries are converging into a cluster with low needs and high satisfaction. These countries have high level of social spending and strong redistributive effects. This study suggested policy implications based on the above results.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.701-716
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• 2000

This study examines patterms of wage inequality across ownership types and its regional structure in post-reform China in order to understand an emerging process of inequality. Using industrial wage data, I explored historical changes of cross-ownership wage inequality and its spatial differentiation during the reform period. This stuy found that pattems of wage inequality need to be understood in the context of changing redistributive economy which shapes state-enterprise relation in china's industrial sector. This relationship in turn determines labor market outcomes during the reform period including wage inequality. Regional structure of cross-ownership wage inequality also needs to be understood in terms of the differentiated process in which reqional wage levels are related to different wage factors. The findings have significant implications for understanding new patterns of soical and spatial inequalities in post-reform China.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.310-319
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• 2018

Objectives: This study examined trends in inequality in cigarette smoking prevalence by income according to recent anti-smoking policies in Korea. Methods: The data used in this study were drawn from three nationally representative surveys, the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the Korea Community Health Survey, and the Social Survey of Statistics Korea. We calculated the age-standardized smoking prevalence, the slope index of inequality, and the relative index of inequality by income level as a socioeconomic position indicator. Results: Smoking prevalence among men decreased during the study period, but the downward trend became especially pronounced in 2015, when the tobacco price was substantially increased. Inequalities in cigarette smoking by income were evident in both genders over the study period in all three national surveys examined. Absolute inequality tended to decrease between 2014 and 2015 among men. Absolute and relative inequality by income decreased between 2008 and 2016 in women aged 30-59, except between 2014 and 2015. Conclusions: The recent anti-smoking policies in Korea resulted in a downward trend in smoking prevalence among men, but not in relative inequality, throughout the study period. Absolute inequality decreased over the study period among men aged 30-59. A more aggressive tax policy is warranted to further reduce socioeconomic inequalities in smoking in young adults in Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.1
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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.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.145-150
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• 2017

This study aims to analyze panel data using OECD Health data of 34 years to examine how significant the inequality of income is to the inequality of health. The data was from OECD's pooled Health data of 32 countries from 1980 to 2013. The process of determining analysis model was as follows; First, through the descriptive statistics, we examined averages and standard deviation of variables. Second, Lagrange multiplier test has done. Third, through the F-test, we compared Least squares method and Fixed effect model. Lastly, by Hausman test, we determined proper model and examined effective factor using the model. As a result, rather than Pooled OLS Model, Fixed Effect Model was shown as effective in order to consider the characteristics of individual in the panel. The results are as follows: First, as relative poverty rate(${\beta}=-19.264$, p<.01) grows, people's life expectancy decreases. Second, as the rate of smoking(${\beta}=-.125$, p<.05) and the rate of unemployment (${\beta}=-.081$, p<.01) grows, people's life expectancy decreases. Third, as health expenditure(${\beta}=.414$, p<.01) shares more amount of GDP and as the number of hospital beds(${\beta}=-.190$, p<.05) grows, people's life expectancy increases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.303-310
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of dental caries among an urban population. Methods: This study was conducted among 2000 people 15-40 years of age living in Kurdistan, Iran in 2015. Using a questionnaire, data were collected by 4 trained dental students. The dependent variable was the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMF) index. Using principal component analysis, the socioeconomic status (SES) of families was determined based on their household assets. Inequality was measured using the concentration index; in addition, the Oaxaca analytical method was used to determine the contribution of various determinants to the observed inequality. Results: The concentration index for poor scores on the DMF index was -0.32 (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.40 to -0.36); thus, poor DMF indices had a greater concentration in groups with a low SES (p<0.001). Decomposition analysis showed that the mean prevalence of a poor DMF index was 43.7% (95% CI, 40.4 to 46.9%) in the least privileged group and 14.4% (95% CI, 9.5 to 9.2%) in the most privileged group. It was found that 85.8% of the gap observed between these groups was due to differences in sex, parents' education, and the district of residence. A poor DMF index was less prevalent among people with higher SES than among those with lower SES (odds ratio, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.52). Conclusions: An alarming degree of SES inequality in oral health status was found in the studied community. Hence, it is suggested that inequalities in oral health status be reduced via adopting appropriate policies such as the delivery of oral health services to poorer groups and covering such services in insurance programs.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.38-51
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to criticize (through available documents) the lecture in English at colleges. It is necessary that a study of English is emphasized in the era of internationalization. But, the indiscreet extension of lecture in English without consideration of the purpose, principle, and philosophy of college's education needs reflective thinking. This study criticized four dimensions, in other words the effectiveness of lecture in English, criteria of internationalization and college's competition of lecture in English, social inequality of lecture in English, and the harmfulness in the value of Korean language of lecture in English. First, most researches expressed the indiscreet extension of lecture in English was not effective in both students and professors. Second, many scholars and agencies on the internationalization and college's competition excluded the lecture in English as criteria. Third, the indiscreet extension of lecture in English had the possibility of social inequality. And fourth, the indiscreet extension of lecture in English had harmfulness in the value of Korean language and Korean's thought. College's education is an ivory tower in society. So, colleges should discard the thought that extension of lecture in English is the best way. Colleges should keep the purpose, principle, and philosophy of college's education.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.55
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• pp.205-230
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• 2003

This article examines the continuity and change of Korean welfare regime during 1990s. Democracy, globalization and the financial crisis changed the landscape of Korean society as a whole and provided a catalyst for the change of the Korean welfare regime. In order to show how and what changed in Korean welfare regime, this study concentrates on the transformations of income maintenance programmes and social welfare services. The changed aspects are as follow: (1) The ratio of social expenditure to GDP has increased during 1990s and now stood at ten percent level. (2)Rather than backing up the company welfare, government strove to build and expand income maintenance devices for all citizens. (3) The poverty and inequality reduction effects of income maintenance programs are very weak in early 1990s, but they are gradually getting stronger impact on poverty and inequality. But, there are also continuance. (1) In spite of the relative development of income maintenance programs, social welfare services are still poorly designed as before. (2) The expenditure level of social welfare services shows sharp contrast to income maintenance programs and lagged behind the other OECD countries. (3) The expansion of social service sector employment are also not so salient. In 2002, social service employment is only at close to 2.5 per cent of the total employment. Accordingly, korean welfare regime is now characterized by a model which is to curb poverty and inequality by engaging in direct government provision of income maintenance programs, but refrain from expanding social service by relying on net welfare which encourage the provision of services within the family. A implication of our analysis is that the expansion of social welfare Korea saw after 1997 was not really an regime shift. According to the arguments of Peter Hall, first and second order changes in policy do not automatically lead to third order changes which imply regime shift. Policy changes which occurred during 1990s was not accompanied by a shift in policy paradigms. Family dependency in welfare is not yet changed.