Clustering of Lifestyle Behaviors of Korean Adults Using Smoking, Drinking, and Physical Activity

Abstract

The aims of this study were to identify patterns of clustering of such health behaviors as smoking, drinking, and physical activity among Korean adults, to compare the distribution of the clusters across sub-populations, and to analyse the association between the clustering of health behaviors and other behavioral risk factors. The data used in the analysis was the Korea Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005, which was representative of the Korean population. The sample included a total of 7,795 adults aged 19 and over. Cluster analysis was used to find the pattern of clustering of smoking, drinking, and physical activity. Differences in the pattern of clustering was examined, first by bivariate chi-square test, and then by multinomial logit regression. Lastly, the association between the clusters of health behaviors and other behavioral risk factors was tested by chi-square test and logistic regression. The study identified five clusters of health behaviors: smoking group, drinking group, physically active group, health promotion group, and passive attitude group. The associations with obesity and self-rated health status showed that these groups were valid. Split sample replication also showed that the results were reliable. The distribution of the clusters varied not only across socioeconomic characteristics such as sex, age, education attainment, household income, and occupation, but also between individuals with certain chronic diseases and those without. In addition, both the smoking group and the drinking group were found to be less likely than the health promotion group to engage in preventive behaviors such as seatbelt use, influenza vaccination, health examination, etc. The result of this study can be evidence of the usefulness of the multiple health behavior approach as an alternative to the individual health behavior approach.