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Journal List > J Korean Acad Oral Health > v.42(4) > 1110913

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

Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health 2018; 42(4): 167-174.

Published online: 28 December 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11149/jkaoh.2018.42.4.167

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

Xianhua Che1, Hee-Jung Park2

1BK21PLUS Program in ‘Embodiment: Health-Society Interaction’, Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

2Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Science, Kangwon National University, Samcheock, Korea.

Corresponding Author: Hee-Jung Park. Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Science, Kangwon National University, 346 Hwangjo-gil, Dogye-eup, Samcheok 25945, Korea. Tel: +82-33-540-3395, Fax: +82-33-540-3399, phealth172@kangwon.ac.kr

Received 17 August 2018       Revised 13 September 2018       Accepted 15 October 2018

Copyright © 2018 by Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health

Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health

(open-access):

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study was to analyze the accessibility of dental care services among individuals with precarious employment in South Korea.

Methods

We used the 9th wave of the Korean Health Panel data (2015) and included 7,736 wage and non-wage earners in our study. We determined precariousness in the labor market as a combination of employment relationship and job income, and categorized individuals based on this into the following four groups: Group A comprising those who report job and income security, Group B comprising those who experience job insecurity alone, Group C comprising those who report a stable job but low income, and Group D comprising those who experience both job and income insecurity. Accessibility to dental care services was determined by experience of unmet dental care needs and unmet dental care needs caused primarily by financial burden. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of precarious work on access to dental care services.

Results

Individuals with job insecurity (Group B; OR=1.445; 95% CI=1.22–1.70) and both job and income insecurity (Group D; OR=1.899; 95% CI=1.61–2.24) were more likely to have unmet needs than the comparison group. Both groups B and D were also 2.048 (95% CI=1.57–2.66) times and 4.435 (95% CI =3.46–5.68) times more likely, respectively, to have unmet dental care needs caused by financial burden. Education status, health insurance, and health status were all also effective factors influencing unmet dental care needs.

Conclusions

Unstable employment and low income resulted in diminished access to dental care services. Therefore, governments should consider health policy solutions to reduce barriers preventing individuals with employment and income instability from accessing adequate dental care.

Keywords: Dental care services, accessibility to health services, precarious worker, unmet dental care need

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Operational definition of precarious employment*

jkaoh-42-167-i001

*Four types of precarious employment; 1) Job and income security group; 2) Job insecurity with income security group; 3) Job security with income insecurity group; 4) Job and income insecurity group.

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Table 2

Unmet dental care needs by subjects characteristics

jkaoh-42-167-i002

P-values by Chi-squared test.

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Table 3

Logistic regression results of unmet dental care needs among precarious workers

jkaoh-42-167-i003

OR:odds ratio, CI:confidence interval.

*P<0.05, †P<0.01, ‡P<0.001.

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Table 4

Logistic regression results of unmet dental care needs caused by financial burden among precarious workers

jkaoh-42-167-i004

OR: odds ratio, CI:confidence interval.

*P<0.05, †P<0.01, ‡P<0.001.

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