Impact of Wildfire Smoke Exposure on Health in Korea

Purpose: The characteristic topography and climate often affect the occurrence of large-scale wildfires in the Eastern Gangwon-do region of Korea. However, there are no studies on the health effects of these wildfires in Korea. This study aimed to analyze the differences in medical use between a wildfire-affected area and an adjacent non-affected area before and after a wildfire in 2019 in Gangwon-do, Korea. Materials and Methods: We used medical usage data from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation. Rates of medical use were determined for citizens of a wildfire-affected area in the Eastern Yeongdong region and a non-affected area in the West-ern Yeongseo region. Logistic regression analysis was performed considering an increase in medical use per individual as a de-pendent variable; age, sex, income, smoking, drinking, and exercise were included as confounding variables. Results: The odds ratio for medical use in Yeongdong region increased significantly after 3 days, 3 months, and 1 year after a fire occurred, compared with Yeongseo region. Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed that the use of medical care increased for residents of a wildfire-affected area, compared with those of an adjacent non-affected area. This is the first study on the relationship between wildfires and inpatient medical use in Korea.