• Byungyoon Yun, Juyeon Oh, Jaesung Choi, Laura S Rozek, Heejoo Park, Juho Sim, Yangwook Kim, Jongmin Lee, and Jin-Ha Yoon.
• Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2023 Dec 25; 38 (50): e384e384.

BackgroundThis study assessed the relationship between non-participation in health check-ups and all-cause mortality and morbidity, considering socioeconomic status.MethodsHealthy, middle-aged (35-54 years) working individuals who maintained either self-employed or employee status from 2006-2010 were recruited in this retrospective cohort study from the National Health Insurance Service in Korea. Health check-up participation was calculated as the sum of the number of health check-ups in 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. Adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of all-cause mortality were estimated for each gender using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models, adjusting for age, income, residential area, and employment status. Interaction of non-participation in health check-ups and employment status on the risk of all-cause mortality was further analyzed.ResultsAmong 4,267,243 individuals with a median 12-year follow-up (median age, 44; men, 74.43%), 89,030 (2.09%) died. The proportion (number) of deaths of individuals with no, one-time, and two-time participation in health check-ups was 3.53% (n = 47,496), 1.66% (n = 13,835), and 1.33% (n = 27,699), respectively. The association between health check-up participation and all-cause mortality showed a reverse J-shaped curve with the highest adjusted HR (95% CI) of 1.575 (1.541-1.611) and 1.718 (1.628-1.813) for men and women who did not attend any health check-ups, respectively. According to the interaction analysis, both genders showed significant additive and multiplicative interaction, with more pronounced additive interaction among women who did not attend health check-ups (relative excess risk due to interaction, 1.014 [0.871-1.158]).ConclusionOur study highlights the significant reverse J-shaped association between health check-up participation and all-cause mortality. A pronounced association was found among self-employed individuals, regardless of gender.© 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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