title: The association between income inequality and all-cause mortality across urban communities in Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Korea has achieved considerable economic growth more rapidly than most other countries, but disparities in income level have increased. Therefore, we sought to assess the association between income inequality and mortality across Korean cities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on household income were obtained from the 2010-2012 Korean Community Health Survey and data on all-cause mortality and other covariates were obtained from the Korean Statistical Information Service. The Gini coefficient, Robin Hood index, and income share ratio between the 80th and 20th percentiles of the distribution were measured for each community. After excluding communities affected by changes in administrative districts between 2010 and 2012, a total of 157 communities and 172,398 urban residents were included in the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When we graphed income inequality measures versus all-cause mortality as scatter plots, the R square values of the regression lines for GC, RHI, and 80/20 ratios relative to mortality were 0.230, 0.238, and 0.152, respectively. After adjusting for other covariates and median household income, mean all-cause mortality increased significantly with increasing GC (P for trend = 0.014) and RHI (P for trend = 0.031), and increased marginally with 80/20 ratio (P for trend = 0.067).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data demonstrate that income inequality measures are significantly associated with all-cause mortality rate after adjustment for covariates, including median household income across urban communities in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chosun University Medical School, 309, Pilmun-daero, Gwangju, 501-759, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chosun University Medical School, 309, Pilmun-daero, Gwangju, 501-759, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: So-Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chosun University Medical School, 309, Pilmun-daero, Gwangju, 501-759, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-ah
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chosun University Medical School, 309, Pilmun-daero, Gwangju, 501-759, Republic of Korea. jcsw74@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Seong-Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D057217:Economic Development; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors