title: Gender-Specific Associations between Socioeconomic Status and Psychological Factors and Metabolic Syndrome in the Korean Population: Findings from the 2013 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
abstract: We aimed to assess the gender-specific associations between psychological factors and socioeconomic status (SES) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Korean adults. We examined 4,689 Korean adults aged 20-79 years who participated in the 2013 Korean National Health Examination and Nutrition Survey. With regard to SES, occupation status (none, manual, and nonmanual), marital status (single, married, divorced, and widowed), and psychological factors (detection of stress, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts) were determined via questionnaires. Compared with married men, single and divorced men exhibited ORs (95% confidence interval [CIs]) for MetS of 0.45 (0.31-0.65) and 1.61 (1.02-2.55), respectively, after adjusting for covariates. However, this association was not significant in women. Compared with those in the lowest household income group and least educated group in women, the ORs for MetS in the highest income group and the most educated group were 0.63 (CI 0.46-0.86) and 0.46 (CI 0.32-0.67), respectively. Suicidal thoughts in men (OR 1.64, CI 1.03-2.61) and perceived stress in women (OR 1.26, CI 1.01-1.59) were associated with MetS. In this study, MetS has gender-specific associations with lower SES and psychological factors. Thus, gender-specific public health interventions based on SES and psychological factors are needed to prevent and treat MetS and reduce additional cardiovascular disease risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University School of Medicine, 34 Amnam-Dong, Seo-Ku, Busan 602-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung Im
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Hospital and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan 602-739, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bo Hyun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9632-9457
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 626-770, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Gon
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Je
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Busan Paik Hospital, University of Inje College of Medicine, Busan 614-735, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Sik
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 626-770, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Hyun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D012923:Social Class