title: Prescription Drug Use Among Adults With Chronic Conditions in South Korea: Dual Burden of Health Care Needs and Socioeconomic Vulnerability.
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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health & Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Youn
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Health Insurance Policy Research Institute, National Health Insurance Service, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jinok
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Byeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea School of Health Policy & Management, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea hpolicy@korea.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Haejoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs
keywords: South Korea; chronic disease; out-of-pocket payment; perceived burden; pharmaceutical expenditure; socioeconomic position