*2.2. Measurements*

The outcome variable was the avoidance of healthcare utilization, which respondents self-reported. Respondents self-reported the frequency of the action—"I avoided visiting hospitals even when I was sick"—they have taken during the previous week using a 4-point Likert-type scale (never, sometimes, often, and always). To conduct a logistic regression analysis, we converted the responses into binary answers (never = 0 and otherwise = 1).

Independent variables were categorized into two groups: sociodemographic and health-related factors. Sociodemographic factors included gender (1 = male, 2 = female), age, family size (i.e., living alone, more than 2 persons), marital status (i.e., married, single, divorced, bereaved), and the presence of children younger than elementary school at home (yes = 1, none = 0). We also assessed the education level (1 = middle school or below to 3 = college and above) and the monthly household income in Korean won (KRW) (1 = 200 million KRW or below to 4 = 600 million KRW or above). We collected information about the respondents' residences (urban = 1, rural = 2) and residential areas, including Seoul, Incheon/Gyeonggi, Daejeon/Sejong/Chungcheong, Gwangju/Jeolla, Daegu/Gyeongbuk, Busan/Ulsan/Gyeongnam, and Gangwon/Jeju regions. The occupation status included whether the respondent was a salary earner, self-employed, or if the respondent was unemployed.

Subjective health status (very poor = 1, poor = 2, moderate = 3, good = 4, Excellent = 5) was investigated to assess health-related factors. To conduct a logistic regression analysis, we converted the responses into ternary answers (poor = 1, moderate = 2, good = 3). We also investigated the presence of underlying disease (e.g., hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, chronic cardiac disease, asthma, and cancer, and others) (Table 1).

**Table 1.** General characteristics of the study participants.



**Table 1.** *Cont.*
