%0 Journal Article
%T Socioeconomic disparities in alcohol-related depression: a national cohort study of low-income medical aid beneficiaries and national health insurance beneficiaries in Korea.
%A Lee SK
%A Kwon YJ
%J BMC Public Health
%V 24
%N 1
%D 2024 Aug 13
%M 39134957
%F 4.135
%R 10.1186/s12889-024-19665-6
%X OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between patterns of alcohol consumption in the past and the risk of depression among medical aid beneficiaries and National Health Insurance beneficiaries in Korea.
METHODS: We used data from the National Health Information Database (NHID) of 1,292,618 participants who underwent health checkups in 2015-16 and 2017-18. We categorized alcohol consumption into four groups: continuous high, increased, decreased, and non-consumers. We followed the participants from 2019 to 2021 and identified new episodes of depression. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for depression by alcohol consumption groups and socioeconomic status.
RESULTS: Medical aid beneficiaries had higher risks of depression than National Health Insurance beneficiaries across all alcohol consumption groups. The highest risk was observed among continuous high consumers (aOR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.36-3.93), followed by increased (aOR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.17-1.94), decreased (aOR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.18-1.84), and non-consumers (aOR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.22-1.54).
CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic status and patterns of alcohol consumption in the past are associated with the risk of depression. Public health interventions should consider both factors to reduce alcohol-related depression and health inequalities.