Korean J Fam Pract. 2018; 8(2): 220-228  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2018.8.2.220
The Relationship between Educational Status and Preventive Health Behaviors in Korean Elderly
Ji Yeon Lee1, Hong Soo Lee1,*, Sang Wha Lee1, Kyung Won Shim1, A Ri Byun1, Sung Rok Jeong1, Hyejin Chun2
1Department of Family Medicine, Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul; 2Department of Family Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea
Hong Soo Lee
Tel: +82-2-2650-5165, Fax: +82-2-2654-2439
E-mail: hongslee@ewha.ac.kr
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8831-3946
Received: May 4, 2017; Accepted: July 5, 2017; Published online: April 20, 2018.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: In an aging society, the importance of preventive health behaviors (PHBs), as a means to improve the quality of life of senescence, is garnering significant attention. The effect of educational status on socioeconomic factors could result in health inequality. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between educational status and PHBs among older adults.
Methods: Our study is based on Phases V (2012) and VI (2013–2015) of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which involved 4,228 older adults aged over 65 years. The PHBs are considered as influenza vaccination, heath screening, cancer screening, and dental examination. We performed chi-square tests for related factors, and logistic regression analysis was performed by correcting significant variables and identifying the relationship between educational status and each PHB.
Results: The majority of participants were elementary school graduates (62.6%). Educational status did not affect influenza vaccination. However, the heath screening rate, compared to elementary school graduates, was 1.56 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19–2.03) and 1.40 times (95% CI, 0.98–1.99) higher among high school graduates and college graduates respectively. The cancer screening rate, compared to elementary graduates, was 1.67 (95% CI, 1.31–2.14) and 1.50 (95% CI, 1.07–2.10) times higher among high school, and college graduates respectively. The dental examination rate, compared to elementary school graduates, was 2.23 (95% CI, 1.17–2.91), 2.50 (95% CI, 1.94–3.22), and 4.35 (95% CI, 3.14–6.01) times higher among high school, and college graduates respectively.
Conclusion: Even though the influenza vaccination rate was not affected by educational status, the heath screening, cancer screening, and dental examination rates increased with higher educational status. Developing measures involving active promotion and education to improve examination rates is suggested.
Keywords: Elderly; Educational Status; Influenza Vaccines; Health Behavior; Mass Screenig; Early Detection of Cancer
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