Social Disparities in Utilization of Preventive Health Services among Korean Women Aged 40-64

Abstract

Objectives: This study was performed to examine the utilization rates of preventive health services including flu vaccination, general health and cancer screenings among Korean women aged 40-64, and to identify disparities in these services utilization according to socioeconomic factors. Methods: This study used the data from 2014 Community Health Survey, and study subjects were 57,522 women aged 40-64. The selected socioeconomic factors in this study were age, educational attainment, job, monthly income, marital status and residential area, and preventive health services were defined the utilizations of flu vaccination in the past year, and general health and cancer screenings in last 2 years. To examine the social disparities in utilization of preventive health services, chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis were used. Results: The service utilization rates of flu vaccination, general health and cancer screenings were 34.3%, 77.8%, and 73.6%, respectively. Increasing age, lower educational attainment, being unemployed and living in rural area had higher odds ratios for flu vaccination. Increasing age, lower educational attainment, being employed, increasing monthly income, living with partner and living in urban area were statistically significant associated with receiving general health screening. The associated factors with cancer screening were increasing age, lower educational attainment, being employed with non-physical job, increasing monthly income, living with partner and living with urban area. Conclusions: This study was showed that socioeconomic disparities in utilization of preventive health services were found in Korean women aged 40-64. Efforts to improve social disparities in preventive health service utilization among Korean women need an important public health focus.

Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Disease Risk by Socioeconomic Status (SES) of Workers Using National Health Information Database

“…The general characteristics of the subjects included gender and age. Age was categorized as: under 30 (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29), 30s (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39), 40s (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49), 50s (50-59), or 60s (60-69).…”

“…As SES variables, only residential area and income were considered. The residential areas of the subjects were classified into "metropolitan city," meaning the urbanized area in central cities, "small or medium city," meaning urbanized areas outside central cities, or "rural area," meaning not urbanized [17]. For the income level of a worker, the vigintiles of the premiums paid by the insured workers were used.…”

Measuring the Burden of Disease in Korea Using Disability-Adjusted Life Years (2008–2020)

“…Additionally, it has been found that the general health check-up rate is higher in small and medium-sized cities and large cities compared with that of rural areas. 48 Because individuals who participate in regular health checkups have fewer risk factors for cardiovascular diseases than those who do not, 49 these characteristics are considered to be associated with regional health disparities. In addition, health disparities depending on residential area are caused by differences in social structural factors that are difficult to overcome at the individual level, and among them, accessibility to health care facilities needs to be considered.…”

Factors of regional variations in national cancer screening rates during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Previous studies related to cancer screening were mainly conducted through surveys targeting residents of one region or individual-level studies using secondary data. 20 – 24 However, medical use is affected not only by individual characteristics, but also by population structure, disease structure, and socioeconomic environment of the area to which the individual belongs. 18 , 25 Research on this is lacking.…”