PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to explore ways to define the concept of health inequality. METHODS The concept analysis process by Walker and Avant was used to clarify the meaning of health inequality. RESULTS Defining attributes of health inequality included differences in health status between individuals or groups, infringement of fundamental rights to health, unfair use of medical services, and social discrimination. The antecedents of health inequality included differences in demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, occupation, residential location), limitations in accessibility to health care, and social exclusion. Consequences of health inequality were increased costs for medical care, decreased health-related quality of life, and lack of ability to cope with health problems resulting in crisis situations, increases in morbidity and mortality, and shortening of life span. The concept was clarified through presentation of model, borderline, related, and contrary cases. CONCLUSION Results of this study can be used to guide the direction of future studies through concept analysis in which conceptual attributes in the context of health inequality are examined. Also, based on the result of this study, development of standardized tools to measure health inequality is recommended as well as development of educational programs to reduce health inequalities.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
The moderating effect of health inequality in the relationship between income and relative leisure deprivation among baby boomers Yu-Jin Lee, Hyang-Hee Hwang, Bo-Ram Kim Korean Journal of Lesure, Recreation & Park.2024; 48(1): 31. CrossRef
Anxiety, Nursing Satisfaction Level, and Experience of Users of The General Health Checkup Center: A Mixed Methods Study Eun Kook Kim, Hyejin Hyun, Yeon Jeong Heo Journal of Korean Association for Qualitative Research.2024; 9(3): 242. CrossRef
Moderating effect of social support on the impact of income on postpartum depression: Focusing on maternal health inequalities Insun Choi, So-Young Lee Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion.2023; 40(3): 25. CrossRef
Individual and Regional Determinants to the Chronic Diseases in Seoul Seo Young Yu, Donghyun Kim Journal of Korea Planning Association.2023; 58(7): 39. CrossRef
Regional Health Disparities between Mortality Rates in Three Leading Causes of Death : A Comparative Study of Spatial Dependence in Local Death Rate between Cancer, Heart Disease, and Pneumonia Hee-Jung Jun, SeungYeoup Kang Journal of Korea Planning Association.2023; 58(2): 38. CrossRef
The Effect of Occupational Stress among Occupational Groups Related to Healthcare Accreditation on Turnover Intention So-Hee Nam, Yeon-Jeong Heo Quality Improvement in Health Care.2022; 28(1): 55. CrossRef
Analysis of Major Factors Affecting the Quality of Life of the Elderly in Korea in Preparation for a Super-Aged Society Bo-Ram Kim, Hyang-Hee Hwang International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2022; 19(15): 9618. CrossRef
Factors Influencing Unmet Healthcare Needs among Older Korean Women Jung A. Choi, Oksoo Kim International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2021; 18(13): 6862. CrossRef
Healthcare Safety Nets during the COVID-19 Pandemic Based on Double Diamond Model: A Concept Analysis Bom-Mi Park, Hyun-Jung Lee Healthcare.2021; 9(8): 1014. CrossRef
Spatial Distribution of Local Health Inequities : An Analysis of Local Mortality Hee-Jung Jun, Seung-Yeoup Kang Journal of Korea Planning Association.2021; 56(5): 228. CrossRef
An Exploratory Study of Health Inequality Discourse Using Korean Newspaper Articles: A Topic Modeling Approach Jin-Hwan Kim Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health.2019; 52(6): 384. CrossRef
Social Disparities in Utilization of Preventive Health Services among Korean Women Aged 40-64 Hyun Hee Park, In Ae Chun, So Yeon Ryu, Jong Park, Mi Ah Han, Sung Woo Chio, Jun Ho Shin Journal of Health Informatics and Statistics.2016; 41(4): 369. CrossRef
First
Prev
