Comparison of environmental determinants for self-perceived health symptoms between seniros aged 60 years or older in urban and rural areas of South Korea

摘要

Background. The population aged 60 years and older in South Korea is increasing. Evidence-based risk management strategies should be employed to tackle health problems associated with an aging population. Aims. This preliminary study aims to compare the exposure prevalence to selected environmental risk factors in urban and rural areas, and to evaluate the association of self-perceived health symptoms with exposure to potential environmental risk factors among elderly individuals aged 60 years and older in urban and rural areas of South Korea. Methods. The participants of this convenience-based, cross-sectional exposure survey were people aged 60 years and older, who were randomly recruited from an urban (Cheon-An, N = 200) and rural (Asan, N = 276) area. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association of exposure to potential environmental risk factors (use of either mosquito repellents or petroleum at home, use of pesticide in agriculture as a long-term occupation, i.e., 10 years or longer) with the reported self-perceived health symptoms. Results. In the rural area, 76.4% of participants reported that they had at least 10 years of farming experience. The percentage of male and female participants who used mosquito repellents was 2.4 and 1.9 times higher, respectively, in rural areas than that in the urban areas (p ＜ 0.001). The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for self-perceived symptoms of palpitation, numbness, depression, and headache were higher in women who had long-term farming experience (10 years or longer) than that in those with little (3 years or fewer) or no farming experience (reference group). Conclusions. Our study showed that a difference in the frequency of exposure to selected environmental risk factors between the urban and rural area was positively associated with the difference in the prevalence of self-perceived health symptoms including palpitation, numbness, depression, and headache.