Effects of Self-medication and Diet on Health of the Elderly

This study aimed to analyze the effects of self-medication and diet on the health status of elderly consumers. Self-medication was defined as self-health management, i.e. concern for one"s health and the intake of health functional foods as a specific self-health management activity. The dietary factors included 25 basic variables representing the food intake and eating habits of the elderly consumers. Further, seven common factors were extracted through factor analysis, which included five common factors related to food intake, namely, fresh seafood, simple protein foods, meat, fruit and vegetables and convenience foods and two common factors related to eating habits, namely, number of family meals per week and safe and healthy eating habits. First, using the Tobit model, the effect of the above seven dietary factors and self-medication on the subjective health status of elderly consumers was analyzed along with socio-demographic and economic factors. Next, the influence of these explanatory variables on the purchase of health functional foods by elderly consumers was analyzed using the Logit model. The raw data from the Consumer Behavior Survey for Food 2021-2022, conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) was used for analysis. The results showed that the main factors that improve the health status of elderly consumers are frequent eating opportunities with their families, safe and healthy eating habits, as well as regularly consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, simple protein food, fresh seafood, and eco-friendly foods. The results also showed that elderly consumers who perform self-medication have better health status. In addition, the higher the number of diseases, the higher the age group, and the lower the income level, the lower the health status of the elderly consumers. These results suggest that more active social and policy considerations are needed to improve the diet and health status of elderly consumers who are living alone or are in the low-level income group.