In rural areas of Korea, where public transportation infrastructure is lacking and alternative systems are poor, the elderly experience inconveniences in using healthcare, although their need is high. This study aimed to analyze the association between the convenience of transportation and unmet healthcare needs among the rural elderly. The data used were collected in the 2016 Community Health Survey among rural elderly individuals aged 65 or older. Dependent variable was the unmet healthcare needs, explanatory variable was the convenience of transportation. The elderly were divided into 3 groups: with no driver in the household, with a driver, and the elderly individual was the driver (the self-driving group). Covariates were classified into predisposing, enabling, and need factors. They included gender, age, education, income, economic activity, household type, motor ability, subjective health level, number of chronic diseases, anxiety/depression, and pain/discomfort. The data were analyzed using logistic regression and stratification. A significant association was found between the convenience of transportation and unmet healthcare needs. When examined unadjusted odds ratio of the group with a driver in the household, using the group with no driver as a reference, was 0.61 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54 to 0.68), while that of the self-driving group was 0.34 (95% CI, 0.30 to 0.38). The odds ratios adjusted for all factors were 0.69 (95% CI, 0.59 to 0.80) and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.67 to 0.91). We confirmed a significant association between inconvenient transportation and unmet healthcare needs among the rural elderly even after adjustment for existing known factors. This implies that policies aimed at improving healthcare accessibility must consider the means of transportation available.

Analyzing men and women separately, we examined the associations between six key elements of the psychosocial work environment of pink-collar workers (n = 7633) and the risk of depression, using logistic regression analysis with data from the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) conducted in 2017. We assessed the risk of depression according to the presence of emotional display rules (EDR), health and safety information (HSI), and emotional labor. In males, the risk of depression increased when there were no EDR and they had to interact with angry customers (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.14–3.30). For women, the risk of depression increased if they had to interact with angry customers and EDR were present (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.00–3.00), and if they did not receive HSI but had to interact with angry customers (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.02–2.71), or hid their emotions and did not receive HSI (OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.50–2.40). The risk of depression increased more in the presence of EDR among women who hid their emotions (OR 1.80, 95% CI, 1.40–2.31) compared to women who did not hide their emotions and in the absence of EDR. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the effects of gender-specific factors on the risk of depression and revise current guidelines accordingly.

The Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center (RCCVC) Project designated local teaching hospitals as RCCVCs, in order to improve patient outcomes of acute cardiocerebrovascular emergencies by founding a regional system that can adequately transfer and manage patients within 3 hours. We investigated the effects of RCCVC establishment on treatment volume and 30-day mortality. We constructed a panel dataset by extracting all acute myocardial infarction cases that occurred from 2007 to 2016 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service claims data, a national and representative source. We then used a panel fixed-effect model to estimate the impacts of RCCVC establishment on patient outcomes. We found that the number of cases of acute myocardial infarction that were treated increased chronologically, but when the time effect and other related covariates were controlled for, RCCVCs only significantly increased the number of treatment cases of female in large catchment areas. There was no statistically significant impact on 30-day mortality. The establishment of RCCVCs increased the number of treatment cases of female, without increasing the mortality rate. Therefore, the RCCVCs might have prevented potential untreated deaths by increasing the preparedness and capacity of hospitals to treat acute myocardial infarction patients.