National Trends in the Prevalence of Unmet Health Care and Dental Care Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Study in South Korea, 2009-2022.
Por:
Kim Y, Kim S, Lee S, Park J, Koyanagi A, Smith L, Kim MS, Fond G, Boyer L, López Sánchez GF, Dragioti E, Kim HJ, Lee H, Son Y, Kim M, Kim S and Yon DK
Publicada:
18 sep 2024
Ahead of Print:
18 sep 2024
Resumen:
BACKGROUND: Although previous studies have investigated trends in unmet health care and dental care needs, most have focused on specific groups, such as patients with chronic conditions and older adults, and have been limited by smaller data sets. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the trends and relative risk factors for unmet health care and dental care needs, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these needs. METHODS: We assessed unmet health care and dental care needs from 2009 to 2022 using data from the Korea Community Health Survey (KCHS). Our analysis included responses from 2,750,212 individuals. Unmet health care or dental care needs were defined as instances of not receiving medical or dental services deemed necessary by experts or desired by patients. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2022, the study included 2,700,705 individuals (1,229,671 men, 45.53%; 673,780, 24.95%, aged 19-39 years). Unmet health care needs decreased before the COVID-19 pandemic; however, during the pandemic, there was a noticeable increase (ß(diff) 0.10, 95% CI 0.09-0.11). Unmet dental care needs declined before the pandemic and continued to decrease during the pandemic (ß(diff) 0.23, 95% CI 0.22-0.24). Overall, the prevalence of unmet dental care needs was significantly higher than that for unmet health care needs. While the prevalence of unmet health care needs generally decreased over time, the ß difference during the pandemic increased compared with prepandemic values. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to analyze national unmet health care and dental care needs in South Korea using nationally representative, long-term, and large-scale data from the KCHS. We found that while unmet health care needs decreased during COVID-19, the decline was slower compared with previous periods. This suggests a need for more targeted interventions to prevent unmet health care and dental care needs.
Filiaciones:
Kim Y:
Department of Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Kim S:
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Precision Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Lee S:
Department of Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Park J:
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Regulatory Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Koyanagi A:
Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
Smith L:
Centre for Health, Performance and Wellbeing, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Kim MS:
Medical and Population Genetics and Cardiovascular Disease Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States
Fond G:
Research Centre on Health Services and Quality of Life, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France
Boyer L:
Research Centre on Health Services and Quality of Life, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France
López Sánchez GF:
Division of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
Dragioti E:
Research Laboratory Psychology of Patients, Families, and Health Professionals, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Kim HJ:
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Regulatory Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Lee H:
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Son Y:
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Precision Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Kim M:
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Regulatory Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Kim S:
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Family Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Yon DK:
Department of Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Precision Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Regulatory Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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