Gyeonggi Province Residents Show Higher Stress Perception and Depression Rates Than National Average

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] While smoking and drinking rates among Gyeonggi Province residents are decreasing, 'stress perception rate' and 'depression experience rate' are higher than the national average.

On the 22nd, Gyeonggi Province announced the results of the '2019 Community Health Survey' conducted from August to October last year, covering 21,000 households and 41,872 residents at health centers in 46 cities and counties across the province.
The 'Community Health Survey Project' is conducted annually as a government-subsidized project according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 'Community Health Survey Plan' and investigates various fields including ▲health behaviors ▲vaccinations ▲medical care utilization ▲accidents and poisoning ▲quality of life ▲use of health institutions, and more.
The '2019 Community Health Survey' includes survey results related to residents' health behaviors in multiple areas: ▲smoking ▲drinking ▲safety awareness ▲physical activity ▲dietary habits ▲obesity and weight control ▲oral health ▲mental health, among others.

Looking at the 'smoking' sector, the 'current smoking rate among Gyeonggi Province residents' decreased by 1 percentage point compared to the previous year to 19.9%. This is 0.4% lower than the national average of 20.3%. The 'male current smoking rate' was 36.2%, down 2.2 percentage points from 38.4% in the previous year, showing a steady decreasing trend.
The 'high-risk drinking rate' decreased by 0.6 percentage points from 17.9% in 2018 to 17.3% last year, and the 'monthly drinking rate' decreased by 0.9 percentage points from 61.9% in 2018 to 61.0% last year.

The 'high-risk drinking rate' indicates the proportion of people who consume approximately 7 shots of soju (or 5 cans of beer) or more per drinking occasion for men, or 5 shots (or approximately 3 cans of beer) for women, two or more times per week. The 'monthly drinking rate' is an indicator showing the proportion of people who have consumed alcohol at least once a month over the past year.
The 'experience rate of driving under the influence of alcohol for cars or motorcycles,' a safety awareness indicator, decreased by 1.3 percentage points from 5.7% in 2018 to 4.4% last year, and the 'rear seat safety belt wearing rate in vehicles' increased by 9.4 percentage points from 24.5% last year to 33.9%, indicating that safety awareness is improving.

The 'complaint rate of chewing difficulty,' which indicates oral health status, was surveyed at 33.4%, 2.3 percentage points lower than the national average, and the 'walking practice rate,' which reflects health care in daily life, was 45.4%, 5 percentage points higher than the national average of 40.4%.

The 'subjective obesity perception rate,' which indicates the proportion of people who perceive themselves as obese, was 44.1%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to 2018, and the proportion of residents attempting weight control increased from 61.4% in 2018 to 66.3% last year.

The 'stress perception rate,' reported by those who feel stress in daily life, was 0.7 percentage points lower than 28.4% in 2018, but 2.5 percentage points higher than the national average of 25.2%. The 'depression experience rate' was also 6.5%, 1 percentage point higher than the national average of 5.5%.

Na Gyeong-ran, team leader of Gyeonggi Province's Health Policy Team, said, "We hope that the results of this survey will be of great help to residents in living physically and mentally balanced healthy lives," and "The survey results will be actively utilized in developing policies to promote the health of Gyeonggi Province residents."

Meanwhile, this survey was conducted through direct home visits by surveyors and one-on-one interviews covering a total of 21 areas and 237 questions (211 nationwide common items and 26 regional optional items). Detailed information can be found in the data section of the Community Health Survey website (http://chs.cdc.go.kr).