Actual Conditions and Issues of Health and Functional Status of Older Koreans

Abstract

In this paper, based on the National Survey of Older Koreans conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the health and functional status of the elderly will be assessed and the direction of health-related policies needed in the future will be discussed. For this purpose, we examined the health status, health behaviors, and functional status of the elderly. Overall, the number of older adults with serious chronic diseases decreased compared to 2017, but the percentage of older adults with one chronic disease increased compared to 2017. Symptoms of depression decreased compared to 2017, but the proportion of depressive symptoms was still higher among older adults, older adults without a spouse, older adults not in work, and older adults with functional limitations. Health behaviors, i.e., health practice behaviors including nutrition management, showed positive changes. Through the results of the analysis, it can be confirmed that preventive health care policies that take into account the characteristics of each high-risk group need to be strengthened in order to improve the health and functional status of the elderly.