Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South Korea
Background With the delayed eradication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people with disabilities, a socially vulnerable class of individuals, face aggravated hardships caused by a pause in support services and lack of care due to stricter social distancing policies combined with the challen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Kerman University of Medical Sciences
2022-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4279_409ae1404d77b99de6021c962ed21d22.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811158660360962048 |
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| author | Woo-Hwi Jeon In-Hwan Oh Jeong-Yeon Seon Jin-Nam Kim So-Youn Park |
| author_facet | Woo-Hwi Jeon In-Hwan Oh Jeong-Yeon Seon Jin-Nam Kim So-Youn Park |
| author_sort | Woo-Hwi Jeon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background With the delayed eradication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people with disabilities, a socially vulnerable class of individuals, face aggravated hardships caused by a pause in support services and lack of care due to stricter social distancing policies combined with the challenges of their disabilities. Given this background, we aim to investigate COVID-19 infection and mortality rates among people with disabilities, who face heightened physical and mental health threats amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods Gender, age, health insurance premiums, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), the severity of the disability, and the type of disability were compared among people with disabilities who had been infected with or died from COVID-19 using the nationally representative National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)-COVID-19 database (DB).Results We found that the COVID-19 infection rate was higher among those with low income, those with severe disability, and those with “other” disabilities (ie, speech disabilities, hepatic dysfunction, respiratory dysfunction, facial disfigurement, intestinal fistular/urinary disability, epilepsy, intellectual disability, autistic disorder, and mental disorders). The mortality rate was markedly higher (ie, 15.90 times higher, odds ratio [OR]: 15.90, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.16 - 41.06) among people aged 80 years or older as compared with those aged 60 years or younger. The odds for mortality were 2.49 times higher (OR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.33 - 4.64) among people with severe disabilities as compared with mild disabilities.Conclusion Among people with disabilities, we found that COVID-19 infection rates differed according to income level, severity of the disability, and disability type, while the COVID-19 mortality rates differed according to age and severity of the disability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:27:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5b2bcea49539496cb616624ce0107dd4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2322-5939 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:27:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Kerman University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-5b2bcea49539496cb616624ce0107dd42023-03-07T09:12:01ZengKerman University of Medical SciencesInternational Journal of Health Policy and Management2322-59392022-12-0111123052305910.34172/ijhpm.2022.69964279Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South KoreaWoo-Hwi Jeon0In-Hwan Oh1Jeong-Yeon Seon2Jin-Nam Kim3So-Youn Park4Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South KoreaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South KoreaHealth Insurance Research Institute, National Health Insurance Service, Wonju, South KoreaDepartment of Health Services Management, School of Management, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South KoreaDepartment of Medical Education and Medical Humanities, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South KoreaBackground With the delayed eradication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people with disabilities, a socially vulnerable class of individuals, face aggravated hardships caused by a pause in support services and lack of care due to stricter social distancing policies combined with the challenges of their disabilities. Given this background, we aim to investigate COVID-19 infection and mortality rates among people with disabilities, who face heightened physical and mental health threats amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods Gender, age, health insurance premiums, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), the severity of the disability, and the type of disability were compared among people with disabilities who had been infected with or died from COVID-19 using the nationally representative National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)-COVID-19 database (DB).Results We found that the COVID-19 infection rate was higher among those with low income, those with severe disability, and those with “other” disabilities (ie, speech disabilities, hepatic dysfunction, respiratory dysfunction, facial disfigurement, intestinal fistular/urinary disability, epilepsy, intellectual disability, autistic disorder, and mental disorders). The mortality rate was markedly higher (ie, 15.90 times higher, odds ratio [OR]: 15.90, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.16 - 41.06) among people aged 80 years or older as compared with those aged 60 years or younger. The odds for mortality were 2.49 times higher (OR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.33 - 4.64) among people with severe disabilities as compared with mild disabilities.Conclusion Among people with disabilities, we found that COVID-19 infection rates differed according to income level, severity of the disability, and disability type, while the COVID-19 mortality rates differed according to age and severity of the disability.https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4279_409ae1404d77b99de6021c962ed21d22.pdfcovid-19people with disabilitiestypes of disabilitiesinfectionmortalitysouth korea |
| spellingShingle | Woo-Hwi Jeon In-Hwan Oh Jeong-Yeon Seon Jin-Nam Kim So-Youn Park Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South Korea International Journal of Health Policy and Management covid-19 people with disabilities types of disabilities infection mortality south korea |
| title | Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South Korea |
| title_full | Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South Korea |
| title_fullStr | Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South Korea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South Korea |
| title_short | Exposure to COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Rates Among People With Disabilities in South Korea |
| title_sort | exposure to covid 19 infection and mortality rates among people with disabilities in south korea |
| topic | covid-19 people with disabilities types of disabilities infection mortality south korea |
| url | https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4279_409ae1404d77b99de6021c962ed21d22.pdf |
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