60% of National Health Screening Subjects Diagnosed or Suspected of Disease Last Year... 0.4%p Increase from Previous Year

NHIS Publishes '2023 Health Screening Statistical Yearbook'
Overall General Screening Participation Rate 76% · Cancer Screening Participation Rate 60%
69% of Participants Have One or More Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors

It was revealed that nearly 60% of those who underwent general health checkups last year, including health insurance subscribers and their dependents, were diagnosed as patients or suspected cases.

According to the '2023 Health Checkup Statistical Yearbook' published by the National Health Insurance Service on the 31st, among those who received general health checkups last year, 40.2% were judged as 'normal' in the comprehensive assessment, 32.2% as 'suspected disease,' and 27.6% as 'patients with disease.' This means that 6 out of 10 people in the nation have or are suspected to have a disease.

Patients with disease are those diagnosed with conditions such as hypertension or diabetes and are currently receiving medication treatment. Compared to one year ago, the rates of 'normal' and 'suspected disease' decreased by 0.4 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points respectively, while 'patients with disease' increased by 1.1 percentage points.

The proportion of patients with disease among examinees increased with age: 14.7% in their 40s, 31.3% in their 50s, 51.0% in their 60s, 66.9% in their 70s, and 72.0% for those aged 80 and above.

Last year, approximately 17,466,200 people underwent general health checkups, accounting for 75.9% of the total eligible population (23,001,000). This represents a 0.5 percentage point increase compared to the previous year. People in their 50s numbered 3,945,300, making up 22.6% of the total, followed by those in their 40s with 3,699,375 (21.2%), and those in their 60s with 3,226,101 (18.5%). By region, Sejong (80.5%), Ulsan (79.8%), and Daejeon (77.9%) had high examination rates, whereas Jeju (72.7%), Gyeongbuk (74.2%), and Seoul (74.5%) were among the lower ranks.

The cancer screening rate also increased by 1.6 percentage points from the previous year, reaching 59.8%. The screening rates by cancer type were 76.1% for liver cancer, 65.1% for breast cancer, and 64.6% for stomach cancer. Additionally, the number of cases diagnosed as cancer (or suspected cancer) were 8,554 for stomach cancer, 8,090 for suspected breast cancer, and 5,476 for suspected lung cancer.

For infant and toddler health checkups, out of 2,308,610 eligible individuals, 1,769,726 were examined, resulting in a screening rate of 76.7%, which is a 4.0 percentage point decrease from the previous year. By age in months, the screening rate was highest at 88% for 18 to 24 months and lowest at 48% for 14 to 35 days. Regarding the assessment results, 80.7% were judged as 'good,' 10.4% as 'caution,' 7.5% required 'detailed evaluation,' and 1.3% needed 'continuous management.'

The overall smoking rate confirmed through the questionnaire was 18.6%, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from the previous year. By gender, men had a smoking rate of 32.4%, down 1.6 percentage points from the previous year, while women remained at 3.9%, unchanged from the previous year. By age group, the overall smoking rate was highest among those in their 40s at 24.1%, followed by those in their 30s and those aged 20 and under at 20.5%.

Among examinees, 69.2% had at least one risk factor for metabolic syndrome. By factor, abdominal obesity (waist circumference of 90 cm or more for men, 85 cm or more for women) was 25.5%, high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure 130 mmHg or higher, diastolic 85 mmHg or higher) was 45.1%, high blood sugar (fasting blood sugar 100 mg/dL or higher) was 40.1%, high triglycerides was 19.6%, and low HDL cholesterol was 17.2%. Additionally, 22.6% of examinees were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, with men accounting for 25.3% and women 19.7% of the total.

The 2023 Health Checkup Statistical Yearbook is available on the National Health Insurance Service website and can also be accessed through the Statistics Korea National Statistical Portal System (KOSIS).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.