A large-scale health survey for a pilot project to reduce the health disparity in Samho-dong, Ulsan Metropolitan City: Results and implications

Introduction: This study conducted a large-scale health survey in Namg-gu, Ulsan Metropolitan City. In specific, the survey results of Samho-dong, one of the 14 dongs in Nam-gu, and the rest of Nam-gu were compared. Also, the results were compared with the Community Health Survey results for implications.Methods: A total of 2,036 people participated in the large-scale survey. Descriptive analysis was performed to examine the socio-demographic characteristics of these two participant groups. The Chi-Square test or Fisher’s exact test was executed to identify differences between the two groups and the results were compared to the 2014-2019 Community Health Surveys results.Results: The exposure rate of secondhand smoke in public areas and the subjective obesity awareness rate were statistically significantly higher in Samho-dong residents than non-Samho-dong residents in Nam-gu. The same patterns of statistical significance were also observed in the rate of high mental stress, the rate of hypertension diagnosis (≥30), and the annual rate of unmet healthcare needs. Compared with the six-year cumulative data of Community Health Surveys, the rate of hypertension diagnosis (≥30) and the rate of diabetes diagnosis (≥30) of Samho-dong residents were lower than that of Community Health Surveys.Conclusions: It is suggested to prioritize designating smoking zones, strengthening mental health services, and operating chronic disease management programs in Samho-dong. The findings of this study support the need for large-scale surveys on the health status of local areas to reduce health disparities and serve as a foundation to reduce them.