The relationship between precarious work and unmet dental care needs in South Korea: focus on job and income insecurity

Che, Xianhua; Park, Hee Jung

doi:10.11149/jkaoh.2018.42.4.167

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This result suggests that self-employed workers may be associated with lower income classes and are more exposed to the danger of working in poverty. Another study also highlights the greater likelihood of precarious workers-including self-employed persons with low income-having limited access to dental care and greater unmet dental care needs compared to their non-precarious counterparts [32]. Thus, a possible explanation can be proposed related to the working conditions of self-employed beneficiaries with lower incomes and their relationship with dental care access.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Unmet Dental Care Needs among Korean National Health Insurance Beneficiaries Based on Income Inequalities: Results from Five Waves of a Population-Based Panel Study

2020

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This study investigates whether self-employed beneficiaries experience greater difficulties in accessing dental care than insured employees based on their income level. This analysis uses 2011–2015 data from the Korea Health Panel, a population-based and nationally representative sample, covering 7083 participants aged 18 years and older. We measured barriers to dental access based on unmet needs or the inability to receive necessary dental care owing to the past year’s economic burdens. The type of health insurance and household income are considered independent variables. We applied multiple panel logistic regressions and two-panel logistic regression models with a fixed-effects approach to analyze the data. Self-employed beneficiaries were 1.16 times (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08–1.24) more likely to experience unmet dental needs than were insured employees. Insured employees and self-employed beneficiaries belonging to the lowest income bracket were 1.76 times (95% CI = 1.53–2.03) and 2.33 times (95% CI = 1.89–2.87) more likely to have unmet needs than those in the highest income bracket. Self-employed beneficiaries were 1.31 times (95% CI = 1.21–1.43) more likely to experience unmet dental needs caused by economic burdens than are insured employees. Insured employees of the lowest income quintile were 4.15 times (95% CI = 3.41–5.05) more likely to experience unmet needs caused by economic burdens, while the odds ratio for self-employed beneficiaries was 5.47 (95% CI = 4.05–7.39). Our findings indicate gaps in unmet dental needs between self-employed beneficiaries and insured employees. The government should adopt strategies to reduce unmet needs among marginalized groups and redefine the role of national health insurance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Unmet Dental Care Needs among Korean National Health Insurance Beneficiaries Based on Income Inequalities: Results from Five Waves of a Population-Based Panel Study

2020

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“…Some standard workers can use paid leave provided by a company for 15–25 days annually, but several unstable workers, such as daily workers, special employees, and small business owners, have little paid leave. Therefore, unpaid leave should be used if workers need to be treated for illness or injury as an occasion arises 20 . This means that unstable workers have to give up their daily earnings to use medical services; thus unstable workers who “live on a daily basis” delay or give up medical service use because they have to take the risk of unemployment and economic losses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, unpaid leave should be used if workers need to be treated for illness or injury as an occasion arises. 20 This means that unstable workers have to give up their daily earnings to use medical services; thus unstable workers who “live on a daily basis” delay or give up medical service use because they have to take the risk of unemployment and economic losses. As suggested by previous studies, medical insurance coverage has an important effect on the accessibility of medical services, especially among vulnerable groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who is the most precarious among the nonstandard workers? A comparative study of unmet medical needs among standard workers and subtypes of nonstandard workers

Ahn

Lee

Choi

et al. 2023

Journal of Occupational Health

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ObjectiveNonstandard workers might have a relatively higher risk of unmet medical needs than standard workers. This study subdivided nonstandard workers to investigate the effects of nonstandard employment on unmet medical needs.MethodsWe used the Korea Health Panel 2011–2018 data. The independent variable, employment contract, was defined using the nonstandard form described by the ILO: Temporary workers, Part‐time workers, and Temporary agent workers. The analytical method used in this study was a panel logit model that accounted for repeated measured participants. By controlling for time‐invariant individual‐fixed effects, we investigate the relationship between subdivided nonstandard work and the risk of unmet medical needs with reference to standard work.ResultsThe results of the analysis clearly showed that compared with standard workers, temporary agency workers had a significantly higher risk of unmet medical needs (Odds ratio = 1.182, 95% CI = 1.016–1.374). The main cause of this phenomenon was economic reasons in this group.ConclusionsThis study found that temporary agency workers in the general Korean population have a significantly higher risk of unmet healthcare needs. The result of this study implies that financial hardship might be a fundamental health hazard among workers with nonstandard employment.

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“…Notably, income disparities in access to dental care are not limited to wage workers [ 4 ]. In particular, the high cost of dental treatment can be a factor that limits access to dental healthcare among individuals with low income [ 7 , 28 , 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between long working hours and unmet dental needs in wage workers

Choi,

Kim,

Song

2023

BMC Oral Health

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Background Many previous studies on the reasons behind unmet dental needs focus on economic issues. However, in this research, we aimed to investigate the relationship between long working hours and unmet dental needs while considering the influence of occupational factors in wage workers. Methods This study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2012–2018) and analyzed a sample of 12,104 wage workers. Unmet dental needs were defined as cases in which individuals did not receive dental care, despite their need for examination or treatment, within the last year. Long working hours were defined as exceeding 52 h per week, based on the standard working hours stipulated by the Labor Standards Act. A binomial model was applied to calculate the prevalence ratio through multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results The prevalence of unmet dental needs was observed in 3,948 cases (32.5%), among which 1,478 attributed their presence to lack of time. The prevalence of unmet dental needs showed an inverse relationship with the education level and household income. The wage workers who worked long hours had the highest prevalence of unmet dental needs. Long working hours were found to be 1.18 times (95% CI 1.07–1.29) more likely to result in unmet dental care compared to working less than 40 h. The relationship between long working hours and unmet dental needs were statistically significant only in men (PR 1.24, 95% CI 1.07–1.43). However, the relationship between long working hours and unmet dental needs owing to time were in both men and women (men: PR 1.59, 95% CI 1.20–2.11, women: PR 1.90, 95% CI 1.48–2.43). Conclusions This study confirmed that long working hours and unmet dental needs are related when occupational factors are taken into consideration, despite the absence of oral health indicators. Using this study as a reference, further research is necessary to identify the underlying causes of unmet dental care and to improve access to dental services in the future.

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The relationship between precarious work and unmet dental care needs in South Korea: focus on job and income insecurity

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

Unmet Dental Care Needs among Korean National Health Insurance Beneficiaries Based on Income Inequalities: Results from Five Waves of a Population-Based Panel Study

Unmet Dental Care Needs among Korean National Health Insurance Beneficiaries Based on Income Inequalities: Results from Five Waves of a Population-Based Panel Study

Who is the most precarious among the nonstandard workers? A comparative study of unmet medical needs among standard workers and subtypes of nonstandard workers

Association between long working hours and unmet dental needs in wage workers

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