J Korean Geriatr Soc.  2013 Mar;17(1):7-17.

Health Care Behavior of People 60 Years and Older in Korea According to Family Type and Sociodemographic Factors - The 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Family Medicine, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea. yujkim@pusan.ac.kr
  • 2Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea.
  • 3Family Medicine Clinic, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea.
  • 4Medical Education Unit, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
This study evaluated the effects of family type and sociodemographic factors on medical treatment, health behavior, and subjective health status in Koreans 60 years and older.
METHODS
This study was based on data from the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), a nationwide health interview survey using a rolling sampling design involving complex, stratified, multistage, probability cluster. Our subjects included those > or =60 years of age (n=1,946) participating in the KNHANES 2010. Family type was categorized into 7 groups according to cohabitation: alone, couple cohabitation (living with a spouse), parent(s) cohabitation (couple living with parent(s)), offspring cohabitation (no spouse, living with offspring), couple offspring cohabitation (couple living with offspring), couple offspring parents cohabitation (couple living with parent(s) and offspring), and others. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association of family type and sociodemographic factors with health care.
RESULTS
The most common family type was couple cohabitation (38.26+/-1.8%). In this group, the percentage of non-receipt of needed medical care (odds ratio [OR], 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 to 0.87) and current smoking rate (OR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.50) were significantly lower than those living alone. Among the sociodemographic charicteristics, male gender, apartment dwelling, high middle household income, 2 member family, education higher than middle school, and possessing own house were associated with good health care behavior.
CONCLUSION
This study shows that couples have better health care behavior than other family types, in particular, limited smoking, appropriate medical treatment, and positive subjective health status. Those living alone visit medical clinics less often and have a negative subjective health status.

Keyword

Family type; Korean elderly; Health care

MeSH Terms

Delivery of Health Care
Family Characteristics
Health Behavior
Humans
Korea
Logistic Models
Male
Nutrition Surveys
Parents
Smoke
Smoking
Spouses
Smoke
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