Association Between Local Government Social Expenditures and Mortality Levels in Korea / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between social expenditures of the local government and the mortality level in Korea, 2004 to 2010. METHODS: We used social expenditure data of 230 local governments during 2004 to 2010 from the Social Expenditure Database prepared by the Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs. Fixed effect panel data regression analysis was adopted to look for associations between social expenditures and age-standardized mortality and the premature death index. RESULTS: Social expenditures of local governments per capita was not significantly associated with standardized mortality but was associated with the premature death index (decline of 1.0 [for males] and 0.5 [for females] for each expenditure of 100 000 Korean won, i.e., approximately 100 US dollar). As an index of the voluntary effort of local governments, the self-managed project ratio was associated with a decline in the standardized mortality in females (decline of 0.4 for each increase of 1%). The share of health care was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: There were associations between social expenditures of the local government and the mortality level in Korea. In particular, social expenditures per capita were significantly associated with a decline in premature death. However, the voluntary efforts of local governments were not significantly related to the decline in premature death.

Social Determinants of Smoking Behavior: The Healthy Twin Study, Korea / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify any influence of socioeconomic status on smoking and smoking cessation in a situation where genetic factors are controlled. METHODS: The sample for this study was 2502 members of the twins and families cohort who participated in the Korean Healthy Twins Study from 2005 to 2009. Groups of brothers or sisters, including twins and fraternal twins, were compared in terms of smoking and smoking cessation behaviors according to differences in socioeconomic status and gender. RESULTS: In a situation with complete control of genetic factors, results showed that the daily smoking amount, cumulative smoking amount, and dependence on nicotine decreased with higher-status occupations, and the rate of smoking and amount of cumulative smoking decreased with higher levels of education. Regarding smoking cessation behavior, a higher level of education was associated with a lower smoking cessation rate, and no significant gender differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental factors had a stronger influence on smoking behavior than did genetic factors. Genetic factors had greater influence on smoking cessation than did environmental factors; however, this requires verification in further studies.