Widening social disparities in alcohol-attributable deaths among Korean men aged 40–59 years during the transitional period of the economic crisis (1995–2005)

• Published in: International journal of public health Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 521 - 527
• Main Authors: Shim, Eunyoung, Cho, Youngtae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel Springer Basel 01.08.2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Alcohol use; Alcoholism - mortality; Economic crisis; Economic depression; Economic Recession - statistics & numerical data; Environmental Health; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Men; Middle Aged; Mortality; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original Article; Public Health; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Socioeconomic Factors; Republic of Korea; Korea; Socioeconomic disparity; Alcohol-attributable mortality; Men age 40–59 years; Economic crisis; Korea
• ISSN: 1661-8556; 1661-8564
• DOI: 10.1007/s00038-013-0456-3

Objectives This study examined socioeconomic disparities in alcohol-related mortality among Korean men aged 40–59 years during the period before and after the economic crisis in the late 1990s. Methods We used Korean Census data (1995, 2005) and data from the National Death Files (1994–1996, 2004–2006) on education and employment status as indicators of socioeconomic position. Based on the age-standardized rates of alcohol-attributable deaths, relative discrepancies across socioeconomic positions were estimated. Results Socially disadvantaged men were substantially disadvantaged in terms of alcohol-attributable mortality in both years. The disadvantage of men with the lowest level of education relative to the highest was worse in 2005 than in 1995. The relative disadvantage in alcohol-attributable deaths seemed to narrow over time based on the rate ratios. However, the relative index of inequality was higher in 2005 compared to 1995 for both education and occupation. Conclusions The results showed that alcohol-attributable mortality in Korea became socioeconomically polarized during the economic crisis. The serious impact of economic polarization following the economic crisis might have been transmitted to alcohol-attributable mortality.