A case study of physical activity levels and medical expenditure of the Korean middle aged

Abstract

The author aimed to examine the relationship between physical activity levels and individuals' actual medical expenses in South Korea. Of the 250 middle-aged subjects randomly selected by a multi-staged cluser sampling technique, 211 respondents completed questionnaires. Looking only at total monthly spending for physicians and drug costs attributable to the illness, the figures were ₩6810.04 (US$5.34 in 2009) for active persons, ₩17076.11 (US$13.38 in 2009) for acceptable persons, and ₩24835.57 (US$19.46 in 2009) for inactive persons. The mean differences of active persons and inactive persons with regard to total monthly direct medical expenditures were ₩18,025.53 (US$14.12 in 2009), which means that improvement in physical activity levels from inactive to active could lead to a US$14.12 reduction in monthly direct medical expenditures. The findings from this study indicate that a high level of physical activity based on frequency, duration, and intensity has significant effects on the likelihood of decreasing direct medical expenditures. As a consequence, health care and public health policies that promote a high level of physical activity for individuals aged 40 to 80 years would be good for the government to prevent rising medical expenditures in South Korea. Keywords: Health benifits; physical activity level; medical expenditure; middle-aged