Prescription Drug Use among Adults with Chronic Conditions in South Korea

Y. Jung, Jinok Byeon, Haejoo Chung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the social determinants of prescription drug use among adults with chronic diseases by examining the associations between socioeconomic position and prescription medicine use and perceived burden for pharmaceutical expenditure, using a sample of the Korean population from the 2008 Korea Health Panel, with 4 analytic models. Controlled with health status and the type of health insurance, the probability of using prescription drugs and overall spending on drugs significantly increased with rising income level, while perceived burden for out-of-pocket payment significantly decreased. These results imply that the poor are likely to underuse prescription drugs compared with their wealthier counterparts with the same need for health care, probably due to economic barriers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-50
Number of pages12
JournalAsia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
Volume28
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016 Jan 1

Keywords

  • South Korea
  • chronic disease
  • out-of-pocket payment
  • perceived burden
  • pharmaceutical expenditure
  • socioeconomic position

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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