A Comparative Study On The Health Of The Elderly Between China And Korea

In China and Korea, the aging of population have been accelerating more quickly and severely. Two countries were faced the burden of an elder society and the increasing trend of the number of elder women. In the aging of population, the health problems of the old people were continuously presented and required the needs for these things such as research and the medical care system.Using the past literature and survey data available, the health paoblem of the old people in the two countries were analyzed by the comparative methods.The results of this study are introduced briefly as follows:1. Comparison of the elderly health status in the two countries.a) The elderly in Korea have longer life - expectancy and health life expectancy than one's in China. The other side, the elderly spend the unhealthy period of 10 years in the two countries.b) Owing to the cultural characteristics, life - style, household chores in the two countries, there are some differences between the genders in their daily activity and social functioning and self- support ability was almost the same.c) The prevalence rates of chronic disease were high in order of hypertension, arthritis, gastritis, diabetes. Hypertension may be related to eating habits, ways of working in the two countries. The prevalence of obesity in Korea was significantly higher than that in China. As economic and social development, the elderly have a high standard of living and a rich nutrition, a convenient traffic. And then, obesity of the elderly appears because of reducing the quantity of activities. The high prevalence rate of diabetes in Korea is related to the high prevalence rate of obesity.d) The mortality rate of lung cancer was high in the two countries because of high rates of smoking and the serious air pollution.2. Comparison of the factors affecting the elderly health.a) When the elderly assess their own health status, because health self - evaluation is a subjective indicator, it can affect their desire and expectation of demand or life - quality, value orientation. So, the results related to health of the elderly in the two countries are not comparable.20～45% of the elderly had an optimistic view in connection with their health status. b) The rate of taking a meal in China was certainly higher than that in Korea because the traditional diet two countries was regarded dinner as the most meal instead of considering the breakfast worthlessly.c) The elderly in China was not frequent in comparison with the elderly in Korea. Because of high prevalence of hypertension, obesity, diabetes in Korea, the Korean elderly exercise in person.d) When the elderly goes out, they make a habit of walking or going by bicycle in China. On the other hand, the elderly in Korea are used to riding the public transportation. So this convenience is one of the factors of reducing physical activity in Korea. Also, judging from the fact that overweight and obesity of the urban and rural the elderly in Korea have been increasing on average, the rate of walking or going by bicycle in China may act on health of the elderly.e) The smoking rate of the Chinese elderly (31.6%) was higher than that of the Korean elderly (18.2%). Heavy smoker ratio of the Chinese elderly was higher than that of the Korean elderly too.f) The drinking rate of the Korean elderly (46.3%) was higher than that of the Chinese elderly (21.1%). But the heavy drinking (daily) rate of the Chinese elderly are presented 55.6%. The rate of daily-drinking mostly in the Chinese elderly was very high. A northern people drink a high percentage of alcohol, whereas a southern people drink a low percentage of alcohol because they were related to their local weather. The rate of daily-drinking mostly in the Korean elderly was relatively low, but the Korean elderly drink a high percentage of alcohol. Because China and Korea were in the same local place, their drinking habits also similar.The economic modernization in the two countries has been improving rapidly. The habits of living and eating have been changing too. The bad living habit and diet may lead to increase the incidence of the disease. The factors such as health status, a precedent experience must be promoted, and to raise the level of health, the two countries should follow the example reciprocally.