Busy schedules, financial burden keep young Koreans out of the doctor's office

More youths neglect their health due to their busy schedules and financial burdens. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Four out of 10 young Korean adults don't see a doctor even though they are sick, according to a recent poll, as more youths neglect their health due to their busy schedules and the financial burden.

The National Youth Policy Institute released this and other findings on Feb. 13, based on its report on youth poverty and establishing a "self-reliance safety net system" for young adults in Korea.

The institute surveyed 4,000 young adults aged 19 to 34 — 1,984 men and 2,016 women — from April to June last year.

Some 41.6 percent answered that they couldn’t go to the doctor even though they were sick in the past year.

The most cited reason respondents couldn't visit the doctor was being too busy or having no spare time to see the doctor, accounting for over 47.1 percent of respondents.

The burden of medical expenses followed with 33.7 percent, suggesting that respondents thought visiting the doctor was a waste of money.

Over half of the respondents, 54 percent, used less than 5 percent of their monthly budget for medical expenses on average in the past year.

Some 18.2 percent used 6 to 10 percent on average for medical expenses, while 13.2 percent used nothing.

Additionally, 40 percent perceived their medical expenses as a burden, while 30.9 percent did not.

Respondents said the most urgent government policy regarding health is to increase support for medical expenses, accounting for 32.8 percent of responses.

More than half of the respondents — 52.9 percent — said they hadn’t had a health examination checkup at a hospital or public health center in the past year.

The survey also showed that 15.2 percent of young adults had no one to ask for help when sick.

However, even 52.4 percent of respondents who did have people to rely on asked for no help when sick in the past year.

The report also showed that 57.8 percent of young adults felt depressed, and 37.1 percent thought of suicide.

“Promoting health checkups for young adults is necessary, in addition to preparing measures to support medical expenses for vulnerable individuals,” the report said. “Establishing customized health policies based on the recipient's age, sex, employment status and region is important.”

BY JUNG SI-NAE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]