ABSTRACT
Objective@#This study aims to investigate the prevalence and psychological impact of social isolation and loneliness in South Korea. Loneliness and social isolation have been regarded as a risk to both physical and mental health. However, most studies have focused on the elderly; hence, there are limited studies on the characteristics of socially isolated or lonely people considering age. @*Methods@#A sample of 1,700 participants was selected from three major cities in South Korea. In-person interviews were conducted to evaluate loneliness, social isolation and mental health status. @*Results@#Among the participants, the prevalence of social isolation and loneliness was 17.8% and 4.1%, respectively. Males decreased the odds of loneliness (AOR 0.49, 95% CI=0.28–0.87), while increasing the odds of social isolation (AOR 1.44, 95% CI=1.12–1.86) after adjusting for age and sex. Greater depressive and social phobic symptoms were associated with increased odds of loneliness and social isolation. @*Conclusion@#Social isolation and loneliness are prevalent among Koreans and associated with depression, social phobic symptoms, and suicidality. This study provides a foundation for further research to investigate nationwide prevalence and a more in-depth analysis of loneliness and social isolation.
ABSTRACT
Objective@#This study aims to investigate the prevalence and psychological impact of social isolation and loneliness in South Korea. Loneliness and social isolation have been regarded as a risk to both physical and mental health. However, most studies have focused on the elderly; hence, there are limited studies on the characteristics of socially isolated or lonely people considering age. @*Methods@#A sample of 1,700 participants was selected from three major cities in South Korea. In-person interviews were conducted to evaluate loneliness, social isolation and mental health status. @*Results@#Among the participants, the prevalence of social isolation and loneliness was 17.8% and 4.1%, respectively. Males decreased the odds of loneliness (AOR 0.49, 95% CI=0.28–0.87), while increasing the odds of social isolation (AOR 1.44, 95% CI=1.12–1.86) after adjusting for age and sex. Greater depressive and social phobic symptoms were associated with increased odds of loneliness and social isolation. @*Conclusion@#Social isolation and loneliness are prevalent among Koreans and associated with depression, social phobic symptoms, and suicidality. This study provides a foundation for further research to investigate nationwide prevalence and a more in-depth analysis of loneliness and social isolation.
ABSTRACT
Objectives@#To develop a Loneliness and Social Isolation scale (LSIS) that can measure both social isolation and loneliness in order to understand the degree of social isolation in Korea. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factorial validity of the scale. @*Methods@#The subjects of the study were 300 adults aged 19 or older who visited Samsung Medical Center and voluntarily expressed their willingness to participate in this research. Exploratory factor analysis (n=150) and confirmatory factor analysis (n=150) were conducted to construct the factorial structure model and to determine the model fit. @*Results@#Exploratory factor analysis showed a three-factor structure with a total variance of 65.8%; factor 1 consisted of social support, factor 2 of social networks, and factor 3 of items representing loneliness. After conducting confirmatory factor analysis on the three-factor models, a three-factor model consisting of 8 items (LSIS-8) and a three-factor model consisting of 6 items (LSIS-6) showed significant goodness-of-fit. Internal consistency for all items was good (Cronbach’s α=0.774), and correlations with existing social isolation and loneliness measures were significant. @*Conclusion@#This study is meaningful as provides a tool that comprehensively measures social support, social networks, and loneliness. We believe that the application of such tools that are relatively easy to apply in communities will aid understanding of the current state of social isolation and loneliness in Korea.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to propose an analysis of trends and characteristics of high-cost patients who take over 40% of total national health insurance medical expenses. METHODS: It has been analyzed the tendency of high-cost patients by open data based on the medical history information of 1 million people among national health insurance subscriber from 2002 to 2015. To conduct detailed study of characteristics of high-cost patients, multiple regression has been performed by sex, age, residence, main provider, and admission status based on the top 5% group. RESULTS: The amount of medical expenses and the number of high-cost patients have gradually increased in decades. The number of high-cost patients for Korean won (KRW) 5,000,000 category has increased by 7.6 times, KRW 10,000,000 category has increased by 14.1 times in comparing of year 2002 and 2015. Top 5% medical expenses have increased by 4.6 times. In consideration of the characteristics of patients, the incidence of high medical expenses has been higher in female patients than male ones, the older patients than in the younger. Patients residence in Gyeonsang or Jeonla province have had a high incidence of medical expenses than other area. The disease including dementia, cerebral infarction, and cerebrovascular disease for high-cost patients has been also increased. CONCLUSION: The major increase factor for high medical expenses is the aging of population. The elderly population receiving inpatient care residing in the province that increases high medical costs have to management. There is an urgent need to develop a mechanism for predicting and managing the cost of high-cost medical expenses for patients who have a heavy financial burden.