Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate and to compare the health status of urban and rural elderly in Korea using the following factors: 1 the number of self-reported health problems 2 a self-rating score for health status 3 the number of diagnosed diseases 4 ADL, social health status by IADL and the psychological health status by Life Satisfaction scale developed by Wood and others. The study subjects were the elderly who lived in Pusan(N=150) as an urban area and Kyeungnam(N=300) province as a rural area. The study subjects were sampled at random and the data were collected by trained interviewers from Feb. 1 to Feb. 14, 1995. the data was analyzed in SPSS. The results can be summarized as follows : 1. According to the sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects, the urban elderly group was significantly higher in extended family groups and in practicing regular execise than the rural elderly: and the rural elderly group was higher in having spouses and occupations than the urban group. 2. Concerning health status, the numbers of self-reported health problems(eye problems, back pains, headaches, dental problems, arthritis) and number of diagnosed diseases(hypertension, heart problems, diabetes mellitus, neuralgia, arthritis) were significantly were higher higher in rural areas: the self - rating scores for health status and life satisfaction were higher urban areas. ADL and IADL were similar in both the rural and urban elderly. 3. The correlations were the following: Self-reported health problems and self-rating for health status were significantly correlated negatively(r=-.039, p=.000), but self-reported health problems and the number of diagnosed diseases were significantly positively correlated(r=0. 30, p=.000). IADL and health problems were negatively correlated(r=-0.16, p=.000), but IADL and ADL were significantly positively correlated (r=0.49, p=.000). Life satisfaction and self-rating scores for health status were significantly positively correlated(r=0.26, p=.000).