The undated file photo shows students taking a mock test for the college entrance exam. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The flu vaccination rate for teenagers in higher income households is significantly higher than their counterparts in lower income households.
A joint research team from the Seongnam Central Hospital and the Uijeongbu Eulji Medical Center analyzed the results of a health behavior study conducted online in 2017 by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
The respondents consisted of 30,833 middle school students and 31,391 high school students. The overall flu vaccination rate was 37.8 percent, although there was a statistical difference between middle school students (50.7 percent) and high school students (27.3 percent).
For both middle and high school students, the vaccinated group featured higher household incomes than the non-vaccinated group.
For middle school students, the share of those who were not vaccinated stood at 44.1 percent in the highest income bracket, but this rate rose to 58.5 percent in the lowest income bracket.
For high school students, the share of those who were not vaccinated stood at 66.8 percent in the highest income bracket, far lower than the 80.5 percent reported for the lowest income bracket.
The research team suggested that the socio-economic gap in the teenagers’ flu vaccination rate could be remedied by policy efforts.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
