title: The impact of social status and risk behaviors on health status among elderly individuals in Korea.
abstract: Little attention has been paid to health status issues among elderly individuals in Korea. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to develop a better understanding of relationship between a number of socioeconomic factors and subjective social status affecting risk behaviors and health status among Korean elderly. Path analyses of 9,585 Korean elderly provided findings that those who reported a higher level of socioeconomic status were less likely to engage in risk behaviors and thus more likely to have better health status. Further, those who reported a higher level of socio-economic status were more likely to have a higher level of subjective social status and thus have better health status. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sociology, Graduate College of Social Welfare, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Jin
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Dong Pil
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Woochan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Kyung Eun
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D009313:National Health Programs; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012923:Social Class