In 2024, the population aged 65 or older in South Korea made up approximately ** percent of the total population. The share of older people in the total population has almost tripled in the last two decades.

In 2024, South Korea is projected to have approximately *** million senior one-person households, making up around ** percent of all elderly households in the country. The number and proportion of older adults living alone are expected to rise in the coming years.

IntroductionThe number and proportion of older adults living alone is a significant issue. While the number of the oldest old people is also expected to increase, their health characteristics are poorly understood. This study aims to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the oldest old people according to age, sex, and living arrangements.MethodsThis study is based on the Korea Community Health Survey 2021. Among the survey's 229,242 observations, 73,617 observations aged 65 or higher were used for the analysis. The study participants were divided into 5-year age intervals (from 65–69 to 90+), sex, and living arrangements. The outcome variables are the EuroQol 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) index score and the problem reporting rates of the five dimensions of EQ-5D.ResultsThe mean EQ-5D index scores were 0.896 at 65–69 and 0.741 at 90+. The mean EQ-5D index score decreased more rapidly as age increased. Women showed consistently lower mean EQ-5D index scores than men in all age intervals. The proportion of older adults living alone increased from 18.1% at 65–69 to 43.6% at 90+. The odds of reporting problems with anxiety/depression among older men living alone were estimated to be significantly higher than older men living with someone (aOR 1.22 95% CI 1.05–1.43). The odds of reporting problems in self-care and usual activity among older women living alone were estimated to be significantly lower than older women living with someone (aOR 0.88 95% CI 0.70–0.83 and aOR 0.88 95% CI 0.82–0.94)ConclusionThis study showed that older adults' HRQoL deteriorates as their age increases. Moreover, living alone may lead to different effects on older adults' HRQoL according to sex. More comprehensive studies and collaborative attention are needed to identify and provide customized care for older adults.

In 2022, the average monthly consumption spending among older adult households in South Korea amounted to about **** million South Korean won. This was an increase from the previous year and the same as in 2016.

Considering that individuals’ health information can enable their adoption of health behaviors, we examined the use of health information sources related to COVID-19 and its association with preventive behaviors in a sample of older residents in Seoul, South Korea (N = 400, M age = 76.1 years). Latent profile analysis of 12 sources of health information representing conventional media, online sources, interpersonal networks, and health professionals or authorities yielded a 4-group typology: limited, moderate/traditional, moderate/digital, and diverse. In a multivariate model with the diverse group as a reference, the limited group (B = −4.48, SE = 1.14, p < .001) and the moderate/digital group (B = −2.73, SE = 0.76, p < .001) were associated with lower adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Our findings support the heterogeneity in the use of health information sources and the hypothesis that groups with restricted sources of health information would report less desirable behaviors. The findings also underscored the importance of proper use of digital health information. Efforts should be made not only to help older adults with low education access diverse sources of health information, including digital sources, but also to empower them to build digital and health literacy.

According to data collected among users of Shinhan credit cards in South Korea aged 60 years or above, around 55 percent of those classified as active seniors using the card were between 60 and 64 years old. On the other hand, the share of Shinhan credit card users among older adults in the same age group who were not part of this consumer segment was ** percent lower.

Considering that individuals’ health information can enable their adoption of health behaviors, we examined the use of health information sources related to COVID-19 and its association with preventive behaviors in a sample of older residents in Seoul, South Korea (N = 400, M age = 76.1 years). Latent profile analysis of 12 sources of health information representing conventional media, online sources, interpersonal networks, and health professionals or authorities yielded a 4-group typology: limited, moderate/traditional, moderate/digital, and diverse. In a multivariate model with the diverse group as a reference, the limited group (B = −4.48, SE = 1.14, p < .001) and the moderate/digital group (B = −2.73, SE = 0.76, p < .001) were associated with lower adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Our findings support the heterogeneity in the use of health information sources and the hypothesis that groups with restricted sources of health information would report less desirable behaviors. The findings also underscored the importance of proper use of digital health information. Efforts should be made not only to help older adults with low education access diverse sources of health information, including digital sources, but also to empower them to build digital and health literacy.

Descriptive characteristics of the sample (N = 400).

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, more than ** percent of respondents in their late sixties answered that they used a smartphone. Despite more seniors owning a smartphone, the usage rate declined by up to 12 percent among respondents in their late seventies.

Graph and download economic data for Age Dependency Ratio: Older Dependents to Working-Age Population for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SPPOPDPNDOLPRK) from 1960 to 2024 about North Korea, 64 years +, working-age, ratio, and population.

In 2025, the total population of South Korea is projected to be around 51.68 million. In thirty years, the number of people aged 15 to 64 is estimated to decrease by one-third, while the number of older adults is anticipated to more than double. Additionally, the overall population is expected to decline by around six million people by that time. Declining birth rate Several factors are contributing to the expected demographic changes in South Korea. Firstly, the birth rate has been declining for years. As of 2024, South Korea had the lowest fertility rate in the world. This trend continues despite the efforts of successive governments to encourage young people to have children. An increasing number of South Korean women are prioritizing their careers, often choosing to focus on work rather than starting a family at a young age. While the employment rate for South Korean women is still lower than that of men, it has steadily risen over the past decade. Increase in life expectancy Secondly, life expectancy in South Korea has steadily increased due to improved living standards and healthcare. The average life expectancy at birth for South Koreans has risen from less than 75 years to almost 83 years over the past twenty years. As a result, the proportion of people aged 65 and older has grown from less than 11 percent to around 20 percent in the last decade.

BackgroundThe Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a simple measure of global fitness validated in various populations in real-world settings. In this study, we aimed to assess the characteristics and validities of the CFS in community-dwelling older people in Korea, with the original classification tree (oCFS) and a culturally modified tree (mCFS).MethodsThe comprehensive geriatric assessment records of 1,064 individuals of the Aging Study of the Pyeongchang Rural Area were used for this study. For mCFS, we considered the dependency of the food preparations and household chores not to be deficits in the male population. The frailty index was used as a reference for construct validity. We used a composite outcome of death and institutionalization for outcome validity.ResultsThe correlation coefficients with frailty index were higher in mCFS (.535) than in oCFS (.468). The mean frailty index was lower in individuals reclassified by mCFS (5 to 4) than people who stayed in mCFS 5. The classification coefficient of mCFS was significantly higher than that of oCFS (p

Multivariate regression model for COVID-19 preventive behaviors.

This is the analytic data of the article, 'Social isolation and suicidal ideation among older adults in Korea: the role of community trust and welfare spending'. Individual data was extracted from the 2017 Korea Community Health Survey and Community data was mainly extracted from
Korean Statistical Information Service (https://kosis.kr/) and Local Finance Integrated Open System (https://lofin.mois.go.kr/). This data can be opened in STATA.

Background: Adverse drug events (ADEs) in the elderly frequently occur because of their multiple chronic diseases and complexity of drug therapy. To better understand adverse drug events, the prevalence and characteristics of adverse drug events in elderly South Korean patients were assessed.Methods: The National Health Insurance databases for 2015 and 2016 were used for the analysis. We included patients aged ≥65 years that had at least one claim with the diagnosis codes ‘drug-induced,’ ‘poisoning by drug,’ and ‘vaccine-associated’ each year for the base-case analysis. To minimize the underestimation of adverse drug event prevalence, we also used an extended definition analysis by adding the ‘adverse drug event very likely’ codes. We estimated the prevalence of adverse drug events by sex, age group, and type of insurance and examined the frequent types of adverse drug events in 2015 and 2016.Results: In the base-case analysis, adverse drug event prevalence in individuals aged 65 years and older was 2.75% in 2015 and 2.77% in 2016. With advanced age, the prevalence of adverse drug event tended to increase, peaking in the age group of 75–79 years. In addition, the adverse drug event prevalence was higher in females and Medical Aid enrollees. The most frequently occurring adverse drug event was ‘allergy, unspecified,’ followed by ‘other drug-induced secondary parkinsonism,’ and ‘generalized skin eruption due to drugs and medicaments.’ When we examined the extended definition analysis, the prevalence of adverse drug events was 4.47% in 2015 and 4.52% in 2016, which significantly increased from those estimated in the base-case analysis.Conclusion: Among the older adults, the prevalence of adverse drug event was higher in advanced age, females, and Medical Aid enrollees. In particular, allergy and drug-induced secondary parkinsonism frequently occurred. This study provides evidence that health policies addressing the prevention and management of adverse drug events should be a priority for the most vulnerable elderly patients.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, around ** percent of elderly respondents stated that they shouldered the burden of their living expenses by themselves or with the help of their spouse. Over 30 percent of respondents had some sort of financial support from their children.

BackgroundPatients with low back pain (LBP) often suffer from sleep disorder, and insufficient sleep duration was recognized as a potential risk factor for LBP. Our aim was to explore the exact effect of sleep duration on LBP and the optimal sleep duration to reduce the risk of LBP.MethodsAnalyzing data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), we investigated the association between sleep duration and LBP in individuals aged 50 years and older. We used logistic regression models, interaction stratification analysis, and threshold effect assessment to analyze the relationship between sleep duration and LBP.ResultsA total of 6,285 participants, comprising 3,056 males and 3,229 females with a median age of 63.1 years, were enrolled in the study. The association between sleep duration and LBP risk exhibited an L-shaped curve (p < 0.015) in RCS analysis. In the threshold analysis, the OR of developing risk of LBP was 0.864 (95% CI:0.78–0.957, p = 0.005) in participants with sleep duration

BackgroundAging and obesity are considered causes of arterial stiffness, which triggers hypertension in the older population. However, a substantial number of older adults without obesity have hypertension, suggesting that arterial stiffness and hypertension are related to different risk factors in older adults without obesity. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether sarcopenia is related to arterial stiffness or hypertension in older Korean adults without underweight and obesity.MethodsA total of 2,237 male and female adults in the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey who were ≥60 years and did not have underweight and obesity (18.5 ≤ body mass index

BackgroundDepression is a widely prevalent, often recurrent condition. To analyze the regional differences in depressive symptoms over time, we investigated urban–rural differences in change in depression over time in South Korea and the association between healthy aging and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults.MethodsData collected in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, from 2006 to 2020, of adult participants aged ≥45 years without depressive symptoms were analyzed. Healthy aging was defined under five principal components: absence of chronic disease, good physical function, normal cognitive function, active social engagement, and good psychological adaptation. Depressive symptoms were measured using the short version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Using the Andersen-Gill model for recurrent time-to-event, we examined the effect of healthy aging on depressive symptoms, with a subgroup analysis based on the residential area.ResultsOf the 7,708 participants, 78.2% lived in urban areas and 39.4% achieved healthy aging. In 2008, rural residents had a higher incidence of depressive symptoms (rural 11.8%; urban 8.9%); however, after 2016, the depressive symptoms of urban residents gradually increased (rural 6.4%; urban 12.1%). Unhealthy aging (adjusted hazard ratio = 3.04, 95% confidence interval: 2.72–3.39) and urban residence (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.06–1.24) were risk factors for depressive symptoms. The subgroup analysis revealed that individuals who did not achieve healthy aging had an increased risk of depressive symptoms, regardless of their residential area (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval]: urban, 3.13 [2.75–3.55]; rural 2.59 [2.05–3.28]).ConclusionAs urbanization accelerates, urban residents have a higher risk of depressive symptoms than rural residents. Healthy aging is an essential factor in reducing depressive symptoms. To achieve healthy aging, appropriate interventions and policies that target the middle-aged adults and gradually extend to older adults are needed, considering individual and regional factors.

BackgroundCognitive decline in older adults is influenced by diverse factors, and degrees of influence of these factors may vary depending on sex, age cohorts, and passage of time. Moreover, these factors differ in their responsiveness to general interventions. Thus, identifying these factors including their interactions with age, sex, and panel wave and conducting a systematic quantification of their influences on cognitive function are both necessary for developing efficient intervention strategies.MethodsTo identify the influencing factors and their interactions, we applied a systematic stepwise variable selection using 2,535 community-dwelling older adults who participated in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging from Wave 5 (2014) to Wave 8 (2020). These factors were subsequently grouped based on their modifiability to investigate group-wise influences on cognitive function. For handling the longitudinal data, a generalized least squares method was used, and the degrees of influence of these factors were measured using the delta R2.ResultsTwelve variables had significant main effects on cognitive function in older adults. Among these variables, age interacted with sex, regular exercise, and marital status. Sex interacted with regular exercise, education level, and depressive symptoms. Wave number interacted with depressive symptoms and social activity. In addition, the group-wise delta R2 values were found to be 10.9, 6.3, and 5.9% in the difficult-to-modify, modifiable, and non-modifiable factor groups, respectively. Afterwards, we provided the delta R2 for each sub-population divided by the levels of age, sex, and wave number to examine how these factors changed the influences.ConclusionBased on the interaction and quantification results, we elucidated the characteristics of the influencing factors and their degrees of influence, and we suggest grouping factors based on their modifiability to systematically prevent cognitive decline in older adults.