Health Vulnerability Profiles and Preventive Health Behaviors Among Women of Reproductive Age: A Latent Profile Analysis

Purpose: This study aimed to identify latent profiles of health vulnerability among women of reproductive age and examine their associations with preventive health behaviors.Methods: This secondary analysis used data from the 2025 Korea Community Health Survey and included 38,208 women aged 19–49 years. Latent profile analysis was conducted using subjective health status, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, sleep duration, walking inactivity, and body mass index as indicators. Rao-Scott adjusted F tests and complex sample logistic regression analyses were performed to examine differences among profiles and their associations with preventive health behaviors, respectively.Results: Four latent profiles were identified: healthy group (54.2%), walking-inactivity vulnerable group (30.2%), mental health vulnerable group (13.2%), and multiple health-vulnerable group (2.5%). Significant differences across profiles were observed in health screening, cancer screening, and influenza vaccination. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, the multiple health-vulnerable, walking-inactivity vulnerable, and mental health vulnerable groups were less likely to undergo health screening than the healthy group. The walking-inactivity vulnerable and mental health vulnerable groups were also less likely to receive an influenza vaccination. No significant association was found between health vulnerability profiles and cancer screening.Conclusion: Women of reproductive age exhibited heterogeneous health vulnerability profiles with differing patterns of association with preventive health behaviors. These findings suggest the need for health promotion and preconception care strategies that account for both health vulnerability profiles and the characteristics of specific preventive health behaviors.