COVID-19 시기에 가구소득 수준에 따른 소득변화와 우울증상

초록

Objectives: This study investigated income changes and depressive symptoms that occurred following the impact of household income levels during the COVID-19 period using the 2021 Community Health Survey. Methods: A survey was conducted on 185,145 adults aged 19 and older, who responded that the change in household income compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic(January 2020) as “decreased” or “unchanged”. As for the dependent variables, the case was considered depressive if at least one of the following criteria was met: anxiety/depression on EQ-5D, having depression experience, depression using the PHQ-9 score (0-4 points: Not depressed. More than 5 points: Depression), or having suicidal thoughts. The independent variables were defined as quartiles by dividing household income changes during the COVID-19 and annual household income by the number of household members, and the confounding variables were defined as general characteristics, income, health behavior, and status. Results: As the results, the group whose household income decreased during the COVID-19 period was 1.34 times more likely to suffer from depression than the unchanged household income group. In addition, it was confirmed that the possibility of depression increased 1.19 times as the household income level went to the low-income group by 1 quartile compared to the 3rd and 4th quartiles. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study, which consists of a cross-sectional survey, has limita- tions as it can reveal causal relationships, but overall, depression was higher in people with lower household income, and moreover, the more the income decreased, there were more cases of individuals reporting depressive symptoms. Therefore, in the future, in the event of a new infectious disease out- break, such as COVID-19, careful national attention is needed from the public health perspective of each household income group, such as supporting essential goods for low-income families and developing mental health programs.

키워드