• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 2016

Background: This study was conducted to analyze the influence of socioeconomic characteristics of community on the food insecurity under the control of personal socioeconomic factors which may be influence to the food security. Methods: Food insecurity and individual socioeconomic characteristics were obtained from 2012 community health survey. Socioeconomic characteristics of communities were extracted from the data of Statistics Korea and local governments. Personal socioeconomic factors were sex, age, educational status, job, and monthly family income. Socioeconomic characteristics of communities were administrative district (urban vs. rural), senior population rate, degree of financial self reliance, degree of financial independence, portion of welfare budget, number of welfare facilities, and unemployment rate. We analysed the relationships between the food insecurity and socioeconomic characteristics of community using multi-level analysis under the control of personal characteristics. Results: On personal level age, sex, education status, and monthly family income were related with food insecurity. On community level administrative district (urban vs. rural), degree of financial independence, unemployment rate, and proportion of welfare budget among local general government accounts were related to individual food insecurity. Rural area, district with low levels of financial independence, low portion of welfare budget, and greater unemployment rate showed a higher level of food insecurity. Conclusion: To reduce the level of food insecurity in a community it is necessary to decrease the unemployment rate, in addition to providing support from the central government by increasing the proportion of the welfare budget so that both factors contribute to raising the degree of financial independence.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.381-387
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• 2007

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to determine how the association between socioeconomic position(SEP) and health status changes with age among Seoul residents aged 25 and over. Methods: We utilized the 2001 and 2005 Seoul Citizens Health Indicators Surveys. We used self-rated 'poor' health status as an outcome variable, and family income as an indicator of SEP. In order to characterize the differential effects of socioeconomic position on health by age, we conducted separate multivariate analyses by 10-year age groups, controlling for sociodemographic covariates. In order to assess the relative health inequality across socioeconomic groups, we estimated the Relative Index of Inequality (RII). Results: The risk of 'poor health' is significantly high in low family income groups, and this increased risk is seen at all ages. However, the magnitude of relative socioeconomic inequality in health, as measured by the odds ratio and RII, is not identical across age groups. The difference in health across income groups is small in early adulthood (ages 25-34), but increases with age until relatively late in life (ages 35-64). It then decreases among the elderly population (ages more than 65). When the RII reported in 2005 is compared to that reported in 2001, RII can be seen to have increased across all ages, with the exception of individuals aged 25-34. Conclusions: The magnitude of health inequality is the greatest during mid- to late adulthood (ages 45-64). In addition, health inequalities have worsened between 2001 and 2005 across all age groups after economic crisis.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.104-112
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to identify types of quality of life (QoL) based on the 5 dimensions of EQ-5D and predict factors affecting types of QoL. Methods: This study was a secondary analysis using data from the Korean Health Panel Survey-II(2012). Participants were 2,071 middle-aged men who had completed the additional survey in 2012 and the data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and Mplus 5.21 for latent analysis. Results: Three latent classes of QoL were identified: serious (2.4% of the sample), threatened (15.5%), and stable types (82.0%). The types and characteristics of QoL among the latent classes differed. On comparing latent type 1 with latent type 2, the socioeconomic status (p<.05), employment status (p<.05), and subjective health status (p<.001) were found to be significant. On comparing latent type 1 with latent type 3, the socioeconomic status (p<.05), current smoking status (p<.001), and subjective health status (p<.001) were found to be significant. On comparing latent type 2 with latent type 3, the socioeconomic status (p<.05), subjective health status (p<.001), stress (p<.001) were found to be significant. Conclusion: The results showed significant heterogeneity in types of QoL and the predictors of QoL by types were different. These findings provide basic information for developing nursing interventions to improve QoL. Specific characteristics depending on the subtypes should be considered during the development of interventions.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.391-400
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• 2005

Objective : This study examined the socioeconomic differentials for the health and health related behaviors among South Korean middle school students. Methods : A nationwide cross-sectional interview survey of 3,449 middle school second-grade students and their parents was conducted using a stratified multi-stage cluster sampling method. The response rate was 93.3%. The socioeconomic position indicators were based on self-reported information from the students and their parents: parental education, father's occupational class, monthly family income, out-of-pocket expenditure for education, housing ownership, educational expectations, educational performance and the perceived economic hardships. The outcome variables that were measured were also based on the self-reported information from the students. The health measures included self-rated health conditions, psychological or mental problems, the feelings of loneliness at school, the overall satisfaction of life and the perceived level of stress. The health related behaviors included were smoking, alcohol drinking, sexual intercourse, violence, bullying and verbal and physical abuse by parents. Results : Socioeconomic differences for the health and health related behaviors were found among the eighth grade boys and girls of South Korea. However, the pattern varied with gender, the socioeconomic position indicators and the outcome measures. The prevalence rates of the overall dissatisfaction with life for both genders differed according to most of the eight socioeconomic position indicators. All the health measures were significantly different according to the perceived economic hardship. However, the socioeconomic differences in the self-rated health conditions and the psychosocial or mental problems were not clear. The students having higher socioeconomic position tended to be a perpetrator of bullying while those students with lower socioeconomic position were more likely to be a victim. Conclusions : The perceived economic hardships predicted the health status among the eighth graders of South Korea. The overall satisfaction of life was associated with the socioeconomic position indicators. Further research efforts are needed to explore the mechanisms on how and why the socioeconomic position affects the health and health related behaviors in this age group.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2000

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the association between H. pylori infection and socioeconomic status and to determine the current prevalence of H. pylori infection in Korean adolescents. Methods: A structured questionnaire was sent to the children's parents to obtain demographic information on the parents and environmental information. Of the 532 questionnaires sent out, 375 (70.5%; 170 girls and 205 boys) were returned. Their ages ranged from 10 to 15 years (mean, 12.9 years). After collecting blood samples, we measured serum IgG antibody to H. pylori using ELISA method. The association of risk factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic class, type of house, and crowding index with H. pylori infection were analyzed by multiple regression analysis. Socioeconomic status was estimated from the parents' education and occupation using a modified Hollingshead index. Results: The prevalence rate of H. pylori infection was 16.8% (63/375). It increased with age (10.3% at 10~11 years, 15.9% at 12~13 years, and 20.7% at 14~15 years). The H. pylori infection was inversely related to the socioeconomic class (6.3% for the upper class, 16.0% for the middle class, and 20.0% for the lower calss). Crowding condition and type of house did not affect significantly on seroprevalence of H. pylori infection. After logistic regression, we found that the odds ratio for age was 2.2 (95% confidence interval 0.9~5.4), and for socioeconomic status, 3.6 (95% confidence interval 0.5~28.9). Conclusion: The prevalence of H. pylori infection in Korean adolescents was 16.8%. It related inversely to socioeconomic status but was not statistically significant. Socioeconomic status based on parents' education and occupation seemed to affect more on H. pylori seroprevalence than crowding or type of house did.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.123-139
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the parent's socioeconomic status to the academic achievement, together with the mediation effect of the private education expenditure. The structural equation modeling (SEM) method is used with the survey of private education expenditures data collected by Statistics Korea in 2011. In SEM, the multi-group effect is also analyzed for gender, region and school level. The analysis results show that the high socioeconomic status of parent tends to increase the private education expenditures but does not affect the academic achievement, and there are the significant multi-group effect for gender, region, and school level.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.329-345
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• 2005

Gender and intelligence of children, parenting practices and socioeconomic status of parents were studied to investigate whether they functioned as protective factors for resilient children. Total of 556 children of 12 years of age were contacted for the study. Teachers were asked to rate the children's interpersonal competence. Children reported their experience of stressful life events on a checklist. Based on the competence scores and the experience of stressful life events, 107 children were classified into adaptive, resilient, and maladaptive group. IQ scores were assessed using an intelligence test for the 107 children. Mothers reported their parenting practices and their socioeconomic status through a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, chi-squares, t-tests, and one-way ANOVAs were performed to analyze the data. There was no difference in their experience of stressful life events between boys and girls. Girls were rated as being more competent by their teachers. There were more girls in the adaptive and the resilient group and more boys in the maladaptive group. Children in adaptive and the resilient group had higher intelligence scores than the maladaptive group. Mothers of resilient children replied as being warm and acceptive and more refusing and controlling than mothers of the adaptive children Group differences in socioeconomic status of the family were not found. Thus, being a girl and having higher IQ scores were the protective factors for the resilient children.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.5-32
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences of young children's emotional intelligence and happiness according to the socioeconomic status of their fathers. The subjects were 264 young children attending daycare centers and kindergartens in Busan, Korea. Data were analyzed with one-way MANOVA to find out the differences of young children's emotional intelligence and happiness according to education, income level or career of their fathers. Results of this study as follows: First, there were significant differences in emotional intelligence according to education, income level and career of their fathers. Second, there were significant differences in happiness according to education, income level and career of their fathers. Therefore, their father's socioeconomic status variables are the best variables in order to predict emotional intelligence and happiness of young children.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2021

Background/Objectives: To analyze changes in the incidence of thyroid cancer for Korean population using big data from the National Health Insurance Service. Materials & Methods: Sample cohort database between January 2004 and December 2013 with 1,000,000 cases for each year was enrolled in this study. Thyroid cancer incidence was analyzed by sex, age and by region. Public health insurance payment was used to reflect socioeconomic status. Results: The incidence of thyroid cancer in Korea increased for 10 years annually. There are 3 times increasing in the incidence rate of thyroid cancer from 2004, 0.03% to 2013, 0.09%. The sex ratio in the incidence rate of thyroid cancer was male : female = 1:7.2 in 2004 and male : female = 1:3.6 in 2013 that suggest decreased gap between the sex ratio. Between 2004 and 2010, the incidence rates of those in their 40s were found to be the highest, whereas the incidence rates for those in their 50s were found to be highest from 2011 and thereafter. Every year the high socioeconomic status group showed a higher incidence of thyroid cancer than low socioeconomic status group. Some specific region showed continuous high incidence of thyroid cancer, not all city and state. Conclusion: The incidence rate of thyroid cancer for 10 years had special feature by sex, age, socioeconomic status and especially by region. This results will be a barometer for further epidemiologic study about the incidence of thyroid cancer for Korean population

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.141-148
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• 2023

Purpose : This study examined the relationship between suicidal thoughts, hand grip strength, socioeconomic status, educational level, and disease occurrence. Methods : Korean national health and nutrition examination survey 2017 were used in this study. 5,449 were analysed. For comparison between groups, cross-tabulation analysis and mean comparison were performed. Logistic regression analysis were performed to analyze the influencing factors between grip strength and suicidal ideation. Results : Our results are consistent with the literature on the importance of socioeconomic status in health. The lower the level of education, the higher the suicidal thoughts. Being single or divorced was also significantly associated with suicidal ideation. Moreover, a lower income level was significantly associated with a higher suicide intention. Furthermore, older ages, lower educational levels, and lower income were significantly associated with a higher odds ratio of suicidal thoughts. Interestingly, suicidal thoughts were significantly lower among non-smokers. In contrast, suicide intention did not differ significantly according to gender, age, monthly drinking habit, aerobic physical activity, and disease occurrence. Suicidal thoughts decreased as grip strength increased and this was statistically significant. Socioeconomic status, disease occurrence, and handgrip strength level affected the security of an individual's livelihood and were significant risk factors for suicidal thoughts. These associations remained significant in multiple logistic regression even after controlling for all covariates. Conclusion : Future prevention intervention efforts to reduce suicide risks should consider handgrip strength. Studies to explore the possible proximal risk factors and mediators between handgrip strength and suicidal thoughts are also warranted.