• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 2001

Objective : To investigate the sources, extent and related factors in South Korean doctors. Methods : The study subjects were 934 doctors in Taegu, Kyungpook Province, Korea(540 independent practitioners, 105 employed at hospitals and 289 residents in training). Information concerning job stress was obtained using a 9-item questionnaire. Information regarding related factors such as demographic characteristics(age, sex, marital status), perceptions on the socioeconomic status of doctors and working conditions(work time, on-call days per week) was also obtained by self-administered questionnaire during April and May, 2000. Results : Major sources of job stress included clnical responsibility/judgement factor, patient factor and work loading factor. The job stress score of residents was the highest among three groups. The score was lower in older doctors. The score was low among those who thought doctors' socioeconomic status was not good. The longer the work time, the higher the job stress score was. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to control for the mutual influence of independent variables. In regression analysis, the score of residents was higher than practitioners. Work time and socioeconomic status perception had negative effects on job stress score. Conclusion : The average job stress score of the doctors was high. Age, work type, working conditions and perceptions of socioeconomic status were found to besignificantly related to job stress score. Although the job stress of doctors is somewhat inevitable due to the nature of the doctor's job, control of work time, development of coping tools and other intervention methods are needed to reduce job stress of doctors. Further studies are required to understand the characteristics of iob stress and reduce the job stress of doctors.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.139-165
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• 2021

In this study, we focused on the socio-structural factors that cause ageism, investigating whether the influence of the resource scarcity on ageism in the younger generation depends on socioeconomic status. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an online study of 219 adults in their 20s and 30s. Specifically, participants were randomly assigned to either the resource scarcity priming condition or the control condition, and completed a writing task. After this, participants responded to ageism and socioeconomic status items. As a result, the effect of resource scarcity on ageism was not significant. However, we found that socioeconomic status moderated the impact of resource scarcity on ageism. In other words, resource scarcity priming has been shown to significantly reduce ageism for individuals who have relatively lower socioeconomic status. This finding is in line with previous studies in which people of low socioeconomic status were found to be more sympathetic to socially disadvantaged individuals suffering deleterious situations such as resource scarcity. This work is significant in that we have looked at both the situational and personal factors influencing ageism, and in that we have attempted to examine the causal influence of resource scarcity on ageism through an experimental approach. However, since the alternative explanation of the findings has not been completely excluded, replication through further studies will be necessary.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.315-328
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• 2021

The study identified 1,500 adult consumers aged 25-54 years with life insurance within the last year as three groups, top, middle and bottom of need recognition, and demonstrated differences in insurance and finance perception and socioeconomic value perception. In particular, the study sought to identify the influence of socioeconomic value recognition factors in addition to overall recognition factors related to insurance and finance, the number of insurance held and insurance satisfaction. Overall recognition factors related to insurance and finance were classified as 'recognition of insurance as a means of professional management and finance', 'self-directed insurance design and contract' and 'recognition of economic burden on insurance'. Socioeconomic value recognition factors were divided into 'socioeconomic self-sufficiency', 'work-life value pursuit' and 'economic value pursuit'. We identified factors that affect the recognition of a higher need for insurance needs as a higher recognition of need for insurance needs. In particular, the most influential factor for the median group was the recognition of insurance as a professional management asset-tech product, and the upper group was found to be a work-life balance factor. The second influential factor was self-directed insurance design and contract factors for both groups. In order to increase the rate of insurance subscription in the future, insurance should be recognized as an essential product to pursue work-life value, and continuous improvement in information exploration conditions for consumers to explore information and compare products will be important to revitalize the insurance market.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7613-7618
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• 2015

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one of the most common hematologic malignancies which accounts for one fourth of all childhood cancer cases. Exposure to environmental factors around the time of conception or pregnancy can increase the risk of ALL in the offspring. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of prenatal and postnatal exposure to high voltage power lines on the incidence of childhood ALL. It also examines the role of various factors such as environmental factors and alpha-amylase as a marker in the development of leukemia.This cross-sectional case control study was carried out on 22 cases and 100 controls who born and lived in low socioeconomic families in Tehran and were hospitalized for therapeutic purposes in different hospitals ofrom 2013-2014. With regard to the underlying risk factors; familial history and parental factors were detected as risk factors of ALL but in this age, socioeonomic and zonal matched case control study, prenatal and childhood exposure to high voltage power lines was considered as the most important environmental risk factor (p=0.006, OR=3.651, CI 95% 1.692-7.878). As the population study was from low socioeconomic state, use of mobiles, computers and microwaves was negligible. Moreover prenatal and postnatal exposure to all indoor electrically charged objects were not detected as significant environmental factors in the present study. This work defined the risk of environmental especially continuous pre and postnatal exposure to high voltage power lines and living in pollutant regions through the parents or children as well as the previously described risk factors of ALL for the first time in low socioeconomic status Iranian population.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.201-209
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the socioeconomic inequality in malnutrition in under-5 children in Iran in order to help policymakers reduce such inequality. Methods: Data on 8443 under-5 children were extracted from the Iran Multiple Indicator Demographic and Health Survey. The wealth index was used as proxy for socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic inequality in stunting, underweight, and wasting was calculated using the concentration index. The concentration index was calculated for the whole sample, as well as for subcategories defined in terms of categories such as area of residence (urban and rural) and the sex of children. Results: Stunting was observed to be more prevalent than underweight or wasting. The results of the concentration index at the national level, as well as in rural and urban areas and in terms of children's sex, showed that inequality in stunting and underweight was statistically significant and that children in the lower quintiles were more malnourished. The wasting index was not sensitive to socioeconomic status, and its concentration index value was not statistically significant. Conclusions: This study showed that it can be misleading to assess the mean levels of malnutrition at the national level without knowledge of the distribution of malnutrition among socioeconomic groups. Significant socioeconomic inequalities in stunting and underweight were observed at the national level and in both urban and rural areas. Regarding the influence of nutrition on the health and economic well-being of preschool-aged children, it is necessary for the government to focus on taking targeted measures to reduce malnutrition and to focus on poorer groups within society who bear a greater burden of malnutrition.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.70-77
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• 2012

Objectives: Identify the characteristics related to the suicide rates in rural and urban areas of Korea and discover the factors that influence the suicide rate of the rural and urban areas. Methods: Using the data on causes of death from 2006 to 2008, the suicide rates were calculated and compared after age-standardization based on gender, age group and urbanicity. And, in order to understand the factors that influence suicide rate, total 10 local characteristics in four domains - public service, social integration, residential environment, and economic status - were selected for multiple regression analysis. Results: The suicide rates were higher in men than women, in rural areas than urban, and in older people than the younger. Generally, although there were variations according to age group and urbanicity, suicide rates were significantly related to residential environment and regional economic status but not related to regional welfare spending and social integration. In addition, the population over the age of 65 years, only regional economic status has significantly influence on their suicide rates. Conclusions: The influence of characteristics of regions on suicide rate is various by age-group, gender, and urbanicity. Therefore, in order to lower suicide rate and reduce the gap between regions, various approaches must be adopted by taking into account the socioeconomic characteristics of the regions.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.475-486
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• 2007

Objectives : Socioeconomic position (SEP) refers to the socioeconomic factors that influence which position an individual or group of people will hold within the structure of a society. In this study, we provide a comprehensive review of various indicators of SEP, including education level, occupation-based SEP, income and wealth, area SEP, life-course SEP, and SEP indicators for women, elderly and youth. Methods and results : This report provides a brief theoretical background and discusses the measurement, interpretation issues, advantages and limitations associated with the use of each SEP indicator. We also describe some problems that arise when selecting SEP indicators and highlight the indicators that appear to be appropriate for health inequality research. Some practical information for use in health inequality research in South Korea is also presented. Conclusions : Investigation into the associations between various SEP indicators and health outcomes can provide a more complete understanding of mechanisms between SEP and health. The relationship between specific SEP indicators and specific health outcomes can vary by country due to the differences in the historical, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts of the SEP indicators.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.75-97
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• 2004

Objectives: To examine whether the socioeconomic characteristics of communities (contextual effects) are related to the self-rated health of community residents after controlling individual characteristics (compositional effects). Methods: A linked data set including information on individuals from raw data of 1998 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey(KNHNS) and information on the regions where the individuals lived from the socioeconomic statistical indices of Si-Gun-Gu (city-county-ward) in 1998 was established. The contextual factors of communities were generated from these socioeconomic indices through factor analysis. The contextual effects of community over and above the individual characteristics on the self-rated health were investigated using multilevel analysis. Results: The contextual factors of the community expressed as the factor scores have influence on the self-rated health of their residents above the compositional factors. When the communities were categorized into 5 groups (highest, high, middle, low, lowest) according to each of their factor scores, for factor 1 reflecting urbanization reversely, the residents of the communities that had the high, middle, and low factor scores showed significantly poor subjective health status than the residents of the lowest (most urbanized) group. For factor 2 reflecting community services and health resources, the subjective health status of the residents gradually became poorer when the group went from the highest to the lowest, and the low and lowest groups showed a significant difference. For factor 3 reflecting the manufacturing industry, as compared with the communities that have the highest factor scores, the other 4 groups showed significantly poorer subjective health status. And for factor 4 reflecting the scale of the regional government, as compared with the middle group, the rest of the 4 groups showed significantly better self-rated health. Conclusions: There existed regional contextual effects on their residents' health in Korean adults. To make policies tackling these contextual effects possible, more elaborate researches to find more specific factors and to explain the mechanisms of how health is influenced by the contextual factors are needed.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.596-606
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to find out the factors influencing asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis among Korean adolescents. Data of 72,060 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years were derived from the 10th Korean youth's risk web-based study, which was conducted in 2014. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that factors influencing asthma was sex, age, BMI, subjective socioeconomic status, smoking, and subjective perception of stress. Factors influencing allergic rhinitis was age, place of residence, subjective socioeconomic status, drinking, and subjective perception of stress. Factors influencing atopic dermatitis was sex, age, subjective socioeconomic status, drinking, and subjective perception of stress. In conclusion, regulatory policy of lifestyle, such as smoking and drinking adversely affect allergy related disease in adolescents strengthening comprehensive prevention education and stress management are probably the two need to be implemented at national side.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1865-1871
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• 2015

While health information-seeking behavior as an indicator of health communication of patients including cancer survivors has been researched, few studies have focused on how socioeconomic position and media use combine to influence health-related information seekers. This study examined social characteristics of health information-seeking behavior taking into account an individual's socioeconomic position and their media use in Korea, a developed country. The data for this study came from a survey of 1,010 respondents drawn from a nationally representative sample in the Republic of Korea. We conducted multivariate logistic regression analyses for gender-specific effects. We found that men who reported high household income were one and half times more likely to seek health information than those with low income status. We also found that women who performed Internet searches by computer at home were almost two times more likely to seek health information than those who did not. Similar results were found for men as well. Our analyses revealed that socioeconomic position and media use are associated with health information-seeking behavior by gender. Studies on information seekers may bring us more effective health promotion and relevant intervention for people with chronic conditions including cancer survivors.