TY - JOUR
T1 - Income disparity and mortality among patients with alcohol use disorder in South Korea
AU - Woon Kwak, Chae
AU - Han, Kyu Tae
AU - Mo Nam, Chung
AU - Tae Moon, Ki
AU - Yoon, Ho Soon
AU - Park, Eun Cheol
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Problems related to alcohol consumption, particularly alcohol disorders, occur frequently in South Korea and are gradually increasing due to the drinking culture and social atmosphere. We analyzed the relationship between mortality and income among patients with alcohol disorders. We used data from the National Sampling Claim Data 2003–2013, which included medical claims filed for 10,593 patients newly diagnosed with alcohol disorders. We performed survival analyses using a Cox proportional hazards model. 12.79% died during the study period. Patients with lower incomes were more positively associated with the risk of mortality than those with higher incomes (0–30 percentile: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.432, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.155–1.777; 31–60 percentile: HR = 1.318, 95% CI = 1.065–1.633; 61–90 percentile: HR = 1.352, 95% CI = 1.097–1.665; 91–100 percentile: ref). Such associations were significant in males, patients with mild conditions, or those who lived in metropolitan areas. In conclusion, we found that income disparity was related to mortality among patients diagnosed with disorders due to alcohol use. Thus, healthcare professionals need to provide active intervention in the early phase of alcohol disorders, and consider policy that would improve healthcare accessibility for low-income populations in order to reduce income disparity.
AB - Problems related to alcohol consumption, particularly alcohol disorders, occur frequently in South Korea and are gradually increasing due to the drinking culture and social atmosphere. We analyzed the relationship between mortality and income among patients with alcohol disorders. We used data from the National Sampling Claim Data 2003–2013, which included medical claims filed for 10,593 patients newly diagnosed with alcohol disorders. We performed survival analyses using a Cox proportional hazards model. 12.79% died during the study period. Patients with lower incomes were more positively associated with the risk of mortality than those with higher incomes (0–30 percentile: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.432, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.155–1.777; 31–60 percentile: HR = 1.318, 95% CI = 1.065–1.633; 61–90 percentile: HR = 1.352, 95% CI = 1.097–1.665; 91–100 percentile: ref). Such associations were significant in males, patients with mild conditions, or those who lived in metropolitan areas. In conclusion, we found that income disparity was related to mortality among patients diagnosed with disorders due to alcohol use. Thus, healthcare professionals need to provide active intervention in the early phase of alcohol disorders, and consider policy that would improve healthcare accessibility for low-income populations in order to reduce income disparity.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.08.072
DO - 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.08.072
M3 - Article
C2 - 28864121
AN - SCOPUS:85028549299
VL - 258
SP - 358
EP - 364
JO - Psychiatry Research
JF - Psychiatry Research
SN - 0165-1781
ER -