Residential mobility according to health status in South Korea's largest metropolitan city during the COVID-19 pandemic using generalized estimating equations for longitudinal data

Abstract

This study examines whether residential mobility differed according to health status in Seoul, the largest metropolitan city in South Korea, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, people who moved had better health status in the baseline year than those who did not. However, during the pandemic, the residential mobility of people with poor health status increased, particularly in 2019–2020. This pattern appeared to be driven by the 55–74 age group. The effect of health status on residential mobility was not attenuated, even after adjusting for covariates at multiple levels.