Abstract
BackgroundThere is mounting evidence that discriminatory experiences can harm health. However, previous research has mainly focused on the health effects of racial discrimination in U.S. or European countries although there is pervasive discrimination by gender, age, education and other factors in Asian countries.MethodsWe analyzed the data from the 7th wave of Korean Labor and Income Panel Study to investigate the association between perceived discriminatory experience and poor self-rated health in South Korea. Perceived discriminatory experiences were measured in eight situations through a modified Experience of Discrimination questionnaire. In each of eight situations, the lifetime prevalence of perceived discriminatory experience was compared between men and women and the main causes of those experiences were identified separately by gender. After adjusting for potential confounders, we examined the association between perceived discriminatory experience and poor self-rated health in each of eight social situations and also checked the association using the number of situations of perceived discriminatory experiences.ResultsFor both men and women, education level and age were the main sources of work-related perceived discriminatory experiences. Gender was one of the main causes among women across eight situations and more than 90% of women reported their gender as a main cause of discriminatory experience in getting higher education and at home. Discriminatory experiences in four situations were positively associated with poor self-rated health. The odds ratio for poor self-rated health for those exposed to one, two, three or four or more social situations of perceived discrimination were respectively 1.06 (95% CI : 0.87–1.29), 1.15 (95% CI : 0.96–1.55), 1.59 (95% CI : 1.19–2.14), and 1.78 (95% CI :1.26–2.51).ConclusionThere is consistent association between perceived discriminatory experience and poor self-rated health across eight social situations in South Korea.
Highlights
There is growing scientific interest in the multiple ways in which discrimination can harm health
This paper explored the association between perceived discriminatory experiences and poor self-rated health and whether this association is modified by gender using a nationally representative survey from South Korea
South Korea is widely viewed as a ‘‘one-ethnicity’’ country without racial discrimination, our findings suggest that multiple types of discrimination based on other social statuses occur in South Korea and that these self-reported experiences of discrimination were significantly associated with poor self-rated health
Summary
There is growing scientific interest in the multiple ways in which discrimination can harm health. A growing body of evidence suggests that other types of self-reported discrimination, based on other factors, such as an individual’s gender, weight, sexual orientation or age, can be predictive of poor health status. This is evident in U.S data and in studies from other countries [1]. Analyses from the Whitehall Study in the UK have found that non-racial discrimination was an independent risk factor for poor health outcomes. Studies in South Africa, have found that non-racial as well as racial discrimination was associated with increased risks of mental health problems, even after adjustment for sociodemographic factors and other stressors [15,16]. Previous research has mainly focused on the health effects of racial discrimination in U.S or European countries there is pervasive discrimination by gender, age, education and other factors in Asian countries
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