A study on the effect of catastrophic health expenditures on socially vulnerable groups

This study aims to investigate the occurrence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) among socially vulnerable groups (SVG) and identify contributing factors to CHE.

The study used data from the 2019 Korea Health Panel Survey, with 5,595 participants in the final analysis. Of these participants, 1,929 were from the general groups (GG), while 3,666 were from the SVG. The Gelberg-Andersen Behavioral Model and logistic regression were applied to analyze factors influencing CHE occurrence. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to determine relationships between influencing factors and dependent variables.

First, factors affecting CHE occurrence in the SVG were found to be marital status, economic activities, income, chronic disease, disability, and perceived health status. Second, in the GG, only income was found to have a significant effect. Third, income was identified as the most important indicator of CHE occurrence across both groups.

The SVG is more likely to experience CHE than the GG. Moreover, the study indicated that factors affecting CHE occurrence in the SVG are more diverse than those affecting CHE occurrence in the GG. The direct intervention of health behavior factors can be particularly effective in modifying need factors that influence health behavior. Therefore, key intervention factors that can reduce and prevent CHE among SVG must be considered.