Original articleDisparities in Health-Risk Behaviors, Preventive Health Care Utilizations, and Chronic Health Conditions for People With Disabilities: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Section snippets
Data Source and Study Sample
This study is based on the Third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005 (KNHANES III) conducted by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. This survey is the third nationwide representative study using a stratified, multistage probability sampling design for the selection of household units. The selection was made from sampling units based on geographical area, sex, and age, using household registries. The survey consisted of the Health Interview Survey, the Health
Baseline Characteristics of the Sample
Descriptive characteristics of the 2 groups (respondents who have a disability versus respondents who do not have a disability) are shown in table 1. Among the 5475 subjects, 218 (4.0%) were disabled.
The group with disabilities was relatively older than those without disabilities. The disabled group included more men than women. In addition, subjects with disabilities were more likely to have a lower education level, lower income, and were less likely to be employed or married. Over 60% of the
Discussion
Using the National Representative Household Survey, this study examined health disparities for people with disabilities in South Korea. Our study is unique in that it took a comprehensive approach to studying health disparities by utilizing a wide range of health measures including health-risk behaviors, preventive health care utilizations, and chronic health conditions (comorbidities and psychosocial problems and HRQOL).
Our analyses resulted in 3 key findings.
First, with regard to health-risk
Conclusions
A growing number of contemporary efforts, including disability surveillance, support for research, and targeted health programs, have been made to address and ameliorate the health disparities experienced by people with disabilities.63 However, this nationwide representative study showed disparities in health-risk behaviors, preventive health care utilizations, and chronic health conditions between people with and without disabilities. Our findings underscore the continued need to reduce health
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Cited by (25)
Short-term exposure to PM<inf>10</inf> and cardiovascular hospitalization in persons with and without disabilities: Invisible population in air pollution epidemiology
2022, Science of the Total EnvironmentCitation Excerpt :However, the path may impact PwD differentially because, unlike their non-disabled counterparts, they tend to have multiple social determinants of poor health. For example, it is well-known that PwD are more likely to experience material disadvantages and limited access to health care due to widespread barriers to both accessibility and availability of health care than people without disabilities are (Hwang et al., 2009; Ko et al., 2011; Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2017; Korea Disabled People's Development Institute, 2020). In addition, PwD are at higher risk of having health-risk behaviors, including smoking, heavy alcohol use, unhealthy dietary habits, and physical inactivity (Ko et al., 2011; Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2017; Korea Disabled People's Development Institute, 2020).
Disability type–specific mortality patterns and life expectancy among disabled people in South Korea using 10-year combined data between 2008 and 2017
2022, Preventive Medicine ReportsCitation Excerpt :This study analyzed sociodemographic characteristics, mortality, and life expectancy according to disability type. Existing studies have revealed that people with disabilities have disadvantages in terms of health and mortality through a comparison of people with disabilities versus people without disabilities (Bahk et al., 2019a; Jung et al., 2020; Ko et al., 2011; Park et al., 2017). However, this study made a novel contribution by presenting mortality disadvantages among various subgroups of disabled individuals using national data covering the total population in a country.
Deterioration in quality of life and long-term mortality among survivors of in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest: A population-based cohort study in South Korea
2022, ResuscitationCitation Excerpt :Acquired disability refers to permanent, functional impairment due to IHCA during hospitalization among the survivors of IHCA. Disability-related health disparities, resulting in health problems, exist in South Korea.14 Therefore, survivors of IHCA with an acquired disability might be a high-risk population for public health problems during long-term follow-up after hospital discharge.
Prevalence and Influencing Factors of Metabolic Syndrome Among Persons with Physical Disabilities
2018, Asian Nursing ResearchCitation Excerpt :Compared to no family history, a family history of diabetes was associated with a 1.45 times higher risk of metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 31.5% among persons with physical disabilities, which is lower than the prevalence of 43.1% among disabled persons that was reported by Ko et al. [8] and higher than the average prevalence of 18.8% among nondisabled persons [9]. As the prevalence of metabolic syndrome increases by 3–10 times at the age of >50 years [9], it is logical that Ko et al.'s prevalence among disabled persons aged ≥40 years [8] was higher than the overall prevalence from the present study, which evaluated disabled persons who were aged ≥20 years.
Health care utilization by people with disabilities: A longitudinal analysis of the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS)
2015, Disability and Health JournalCitation Excerpt :The dependent variables in this study were each individual's health care utilizations in the past 12 months, measured by whether respondents received health screenings, the number of outpatient physician visits, and the number of inpatient days. As an indicator of access to preventive care, health screening attendance is important, because it promotes early detection of and/or interventions for diseases, and also could prevent secondary functional losses.28 A typical health screening in Korea includes basic routine health screenings (blood, urine, x-ray, electrocardiogram, etc.) and optional cancer screenings.
Supported by the Korean Academy of Family Medicine (research fund no. KAFM-10-01-1).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
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Ko and Lee contributed equally to this work as first authors.