Socioeconomic Regional Inequity in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Korea, 2017–2025

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases remain major public health challenges in Korea, with substantial mortality and disability burdens despite overall improvements in survival. However, preventive care and health outcomes are not evenly distributed across regions, and conventional urban-rural classifications may not fully capture underlying socioeconomic differences. This study aimed to examine inequity in cardiovascular disease prevention in Korea using a population-based dataset and to explore a refined urban-rural classification based on community-level socioeconomic indicators. This study used data from the Korea Community Health Survey (KCHS), a nationally representative annual survey of more than 228,000 adults aged 19 years and older from 2017 to 2025. To assess regional differences in knowledge of early stroke and acute myocardial infarction symptoms, the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces were grouped into three areas: Seoul, six metropolitan cities, and ten other regions. Seoul showed the most stable pattern but relatively lower overall knowledge, particularly for stroke recognition. Area 2 showed intermediate levels with a wider range across sectors. Notably Area 3 had the highest average knowledge for both cardiovascular and stroke-related items, but also the greatest variability. These findings suggest that regional inequities in cardiovascular prevention knowledge persist and that area-specific socioeconomic context may influence health literacy and prevention behavior. In our presentation, we will analyze results at the level of 308 cities, counties, and districts in Korea, incorporating community-level variables including population density, the proportion of older adults, tax settlement data, comprehensive income tax, the number of business establishments, and real estate tax. We will also expand prevention-related indicators to 23 variables to better characterize geographic health inequities and support targeted public health policy.

Key messages

• Cardiovascular and stroke prevention knowledge varies substantially by region in Korea, suggesting persistent geographic inequity in health literacy and prevention access.

• Refined urban-rural classification using community socioeconomic indicators may better identify high-risk regions and guide targeted prevention policies.