Determining the reasons for unmet healthcare needs in South Korea: a secondary data analysis

BACKGROUND: “Unmet healthcare needs” refers to the situation in which patients or citizens cannot fulfill their medical needs, likely due to socioeconomic reasons. The purpose of this study was to analyze factors related to unmet healthcare needs among South Korean adults. METHODS: We used a retrospective cross-sectional study design. This nationwide-based study included the data of 26,598 participants aged 19 years and older, which were obtained from the 2013–2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Using multiple logistic regression models, we analyzed the associations between factors that influence unmet healthcare needs and participants’ subgroups. RESULTS: Despite South Korea’s universal health insurance system, in 2017, 9.5% of South Koreans experienced unmet healthcare needs. In both the male and female groups, younger people (age 19–39) had a higher odds ratio (OR) of experiencing unmet healthcare needs compared to older people (reference: age ≥ 60) (men: OR 1.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.35–2.48; women: OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.12–1.81). In particular, unlike men, women’s unmet healthcare needs increased as their incomes decreased (1 quartile OR 1.55, 2 quartiles OR 1.29, 3 quartiles OR 1.26). Men and women showed a tendency to have more unmet healthcare needs with less exercise, worse subjective health state, worse pain, and a higher degree of depression. CONCLUSIONS: The contributing factors of unmet healthcare needs included having a low socioeconomic status, high stress, severe pain, and severe depression. Considering our findings, we suggest improving healthcare access for those with low socioeconomic status. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12955-021-01737-5.