Health literacy and use of preventive health services among North Korean defectors in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

It is known that some groups of immigrants can have low health literacy and it may affect their health. Although the number of North Korean defectors in the Republic of Korea has increased, little is known about their health literacy and health behavior. Adult North Korean defectors (n = 399) in this study were surveyed on health literacy, using the Korean Health Literacy Scale, and on the use of preventive services. Those with better health literacy scores were more likely to have vaccination than the lower scoring group (adjusted OR = 2.44; 95% CI, 1.19–5.00). However, undergoing medical check-up may not be associated with health literacy. In subgroup analysis, among defectors who lived alone (P = 0.032) or who had longer time in other countries before entering (P = 0.007), the vaccination coverage was associated with their health literacy scores. This study provides evidence for an association between health literacy and influenza vaccination coverage among North Korean defectors even though they may have fewer language barriers than other immigrants. Further research is needed to develop interventions for improving health literacy and their preventive health behavior.

Promoting health behaviors for preventing and controlling noncommunicable disease among North Korean defectors: A systematic review

“…The summary of the characteristics of selected studies is presented in Table 1. It includes 18 quantitative studies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and 4 qualitative studies [28][29][30][31]; among the quantitative studies, 5 studies report comparisons with South Korean people [11,[13][14][15]22]. The number of participants in these studies varied from 8 to 932 participants, and 54.6%-100% of them were women.…”

“…We reviewed the best available data for demonstrating the North Korean defectors' health behaviors related to NCD in this study. North Korean defectors are reported to have a negative perception on their health status compared to South Koreans, and low literacy and knowledge of health have had a negative impact on their health behavior [10,28,29].…”

“…Establishing a systematic education program could dispel the misunderstandings and misperceptions related to health, which originated from cultural and social differences [10,29]. South Korean government and the health care professionals should make efforts for preventing and intervening at an early stage of NCD diseases among North Korean defectors by sharing health data of all the North Korean defectors.…”

“…This category included a variety of variables, including sub or total score of HPLP [18,20,21], medical service utilization [22], health-related [20] or sex-related knowledge and attitude [24,25], and vaccination coverage [10].…”

“…About 70 years of division between the two Korean countries have also led to differences in disease awareness, health behaviors, symptom expression, and an understanding of medical technology or information [10]. A higher prevalence of high blood pressure in men and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)cholesterol in women were observed in North Korean defectors compared to those in South Koreans [11].…”