Table 1. General characteristics of Korean adults, in the data obtained from the KNHANES from 2015 to 2021 (total N = 51,682)

Variables Total Years
2015-2016 2017-2018 2019 2020 2021
Overall, n (%) 51,682 (100.00) 14,781 (28.60) 15,358 (29.72) 7,716 (14.93) 7,096 (13.73) 6,731 (13.02)
Crude rate, n (%)
Age
20-39 years 9,981 (19.31) 2,913 (19.71) 2,984 (19.43) 1,512 (19.60) 1,396 (19.67) 1,176 (17.47)
40-59 years 14,549 (28.15) 4,180 (28.28) 4,408 (28.70) 2,185 (28.32) 1,904 (26.83) 1,872 (27.81)
≥ 60 years 15,519 (30.03) 4,105 (27.77) 4,423 (28.80) 2,303 (29.85) 2,314 (32.61) 2,374 (35.27)
Unknown 11,633 (22.51) 3,583 (24.24) 3,543 (23.07) 1,716 (22.24) 1,482 (20.89) 1,309 (19.45)
Sex
Male 23,511 (45.49) 6,668 (45.11) 6,993 (45.53) 3,530 (45.75) 3,282 (46.25) 3,038 (45.13)
Female 28,171 (54.51) 8,113 (54.89) 8,365 (54.47) 4,186 (54.25) 3,814 (53.75) 3,693 (54.87)
Region of residence
Urban 25,308 (48.97) 8,469 (57.30) 7,226 (47.05) 3,440 (44.58) 3,074 (43.32) 3,099 (46.04)
Rural 26,374 (51.03) 6,312 (42.70) 8,132 (52.95) 4,276 (55.42) 4,022 (56.68) 3,632 (53.96)
BMI groupa
Underweight to normal 25,539 (49.42) 7,494 (50.70) 7,782 (50.67) 3,896 (50.49) 3,251 (45.81) 3,116 (46.29)
Overweight to obese 25,755 (49.83) 7,252 (49.06) 7,493 (48.79) 3,774 (48.91) 3,738 (52.68) 3,498 (51.97)
Unknown 388 (0.75) 35 (0.24) 83 (0.54) 46 (0.60) 107 (1.51) 117 (1.74)
Educational background
High school or lower 25,020 (48.41) 7,362 (49.81) 7,463 (48.59) 3,661 (47.45) 3,235 (45.59) 3,299 (49.01)
College or higher 17,681 (34.21) 4,597 (31.10) 5,314 (34.60) 2,748 (35.61) 2,599 (36.63) 2,423 (36.00)
Unknown 8,981 (17.38) 2,822 (19.09) 2,581 (16.81) 1,307 (16.94) 1,262 (17.78) 1,009 (14.99)
Smoking status
Smoker 7,269 (14.06) 2,088 (14.13) 2,226 (14.49) 1,082 (14.02) 981 (13.82) 892 (13.25)
Ex-smoker 9,251 (17.90) 2,433 (16.46) 2,687 (17.50) 1,433 (18.57) 1,353 (19.07) 1,345 (19.98)
Non-smoker 35,162 (68.04) 10,260 (69.41) 10,445 (68.01) 5,201 (67.41) 4,762 (67.11) 4,494 (66.77)
Alcohol consumption frequency
Non-drinker 29,588 (57.25) 8,553 (57.86) 8,603 (56.02) 4,353 (56.42) 4,089 (57.62) 3,990 (59.28)
1–5 days/month 13,314 (25.76) 3,759 (25.43) 3,973 (25.87) 2,055 (26.63) 1,827 (25.75) 1,700 (25.26)
6–30 days/month 8,780 (16.99) 2,469 (16.70) 2,782 (18.11) 1,308 (16.95) 1,180 (16.63) 1,041 (15.47)
Economic level of the family
Low 22,137 (42.83) 6,318 (42.74) 6,506 (42.36) 3,451 (44.73) 2,968 (41.83) 2,894 (43.00)
High 29,545 (57.17) 8,463 (57.26) 8,852 (57.64) 4,265 (55.27) 4,128 (58.17) 3,837 (57.00)
Weighted rate % (95% CI)
Age
20-39 years 26.44 (25.76 to 27.13) 27.24 (25.96 to 28.52) 26.65 (25.39 to 27.90) 26.45 (24.60 to 28.29) 25.67 (23.77 to 27.57) 25.18 (23.30 to 27.05)
40-59 years 31.36 (30.83 to 31.90) 31.78 (30.72 to 32.83) 31.46 (30.47 to 32.45) 31.28 (29.96 to 32.60) 31.01 (29.37 to 32.65) 30.77 (29.49 to 32.05)
≥ 60 years 21.21 (20.52 to 21.91) 18.93 (17.80 to 20.07) 20.54 (19.13 to 21.95) 22.02 (19.82 to 24.22) 23.19 (20.89 to 25.50) 24.45 (22.19 to 26.71)
Unknown 20.98 (20.47 to 21.48) 22.05 (21.15 to 22.95) 21.36 (20.32 to 22.40) 20.25 (18.88 to 21.63) 20.13 (18.61 to 21.65) 19.60 (18.03 to 21.18)
Sex
Male 50.09 (49.66 to 50.52) 50.05 (49.26 to 50.84) 50.11 (49.26 to 50.97) 50.11 (49.02 to 51.19) 50.10 (49.09 to 51.11) 50.09 (48.87 to 51.32)
Female 49.91 (49.48 to 50.34) 49.95 (49.16 to 50.74) 49.89 (49.03 to 50.74) 49.89 (48.81 to 50.98) 49.90 (48.89 to 50.91) 49.91 (48.68 to 51.13)
Region of residence
Urban 49.39 (47.85 to 50.92) 58.53 (54.80 to 62.25) 46.69 (42.87 to 50.50) 45.05 (38.22 to 51.88) 44.75 (37.53 to 51.97) 45.57 (38.57 to 52.57)
Rural 50.61 (49.08 to 52.15) 41.47 (37.75 to 45.20) 53.31 (49.50 to 57.13) 54.95 (48.12 to 61.78) 55.25 (48.03 to 62.47) 54.43 (47.43 to 61.43)
BMI groupa
Underweight to normal 48.44 (47.85 to 49.02) 49.58 (48.51 to 50.65) 49.77 (48.70 to 50.84) 49.12 (47.44 to 50.80) 44.69 (43.07 to 46.31) 46.50 (44.73 to 48.28)
Overweight to obese 50.87 (50.29 to 51.45) 50.14 (49.08 to 51.21) 49.72 (48.66 to 50.77) 50.27 (48.58 to 51.97) 54.02 (52.45 to 55.58) 52.08 (50.33 to 53.83)
Unknown 0.70 (0.60 to 0.79) 0.28 (0.16 to 0.39) 0.52 (0.37 to 0.66) 0.61 (0.39 to 0.83) 1.30 (0.98 to 1.61) 1.41 (1.01 to 1.82)
Educational background
High school or lower 44.11 (43.23 to 44.98) 45.77 (44.18 to 47.35) 44.48 (42.71 to 46.26) 43.35 (40.68 to 46.03) 41.57 (38.90 to 44.24) 43.33 (40.81 to 45.85)
College or higher 40.80 (39.96 to 41.64) 37.48 (35.95 to 39.02) 41.28 (39.64 to 42.91) 42.18 (39.69 to 44.66) 42.74 (40.11 to 45.36) 43.21 (40.75 to 45.66)
Unknown 15.09 (14.60 to 15.58) 16.75 (15.81 to 17.69) 14.24 (13.24 to 15.24) 14.47 (13.28 to 15.65) 15.69 (14.24 to 17.13) 13.46 (12.20 to 14.72)
Smoking status
Smoker 17.01 (16.54 to 17.48) 17.77 (16.88 to 18.66) 17.49 (16.57 to 18.41) 16.72 (15.47 to 17.97) 16.20 (14.91 to 17.49) 15.56 (14.30 to 16.83)
Ex-smoker 18.55 (18.16 to 18.94) 16.93 (16.23 to 17.64) 18.03 (17.34 to 18.72) 19.09 (18.04 to 20.13) 19.91 (18.88 to 20.95) 21.03 (19.87 to 22.19)
Non-smoker 64.44 (63.93 to 64.95) 65.30 (64.37 to 66.23) 64.48 (63.51 to 65.46) 64.19 (62.80 to 65.58) 63.89 (62.50 to 65.29) 63.41 (61.85 to 64.96)
Alcohol consumption frequency
Non-drinker 52.21 (51.63 to 52.80) 52.02 (50.93 to 53.11) 51.04 (50.00 to 52.09) 51.78 (50.39 to 53.17) 53.28 (51.59 to 54.97) 54.43 (52.61 to 56.26)
1–5 days/month 28.98 (28.46 to 29.50) 29.00 (28.03 to 29.98) 28.92 (27.98 to 29.86) 30.18 (28.83 to 31.53) 28.13 (26.66 to 29.61) 28.65 (27.10 to 30.20)
6–30days/month 18.81 (18.39 to 19.23) 18.98 (18.18 to 19.78) 20.04 (19.28 to 20.79) 18.04 (16.81 to 19.26) 18.59 (17.44 to 19.73) 16.91 (15.77 to 18.06)
Economic level of family
Low 38.96 (37.83 to 40.09) 39.38 (37.13 to 41.62) 39.44 (37.27 to 41.61) 40.89 (37.74 to 44.04) 36.98 (33.48 to 40.48) 37.12 (33.74 to 40.51)
High 61.04 (59.91 to 62.17) 60.62 (58.38 to 62.87) 60.56 (58.39 to 62.73) 59.11 (55.96 to 62.26) 63.02 (59.52 to 66.52) 62.88 (59.49 to 66.26)
BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; KNHANES, Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
BMI is divided into two groups: underweight to normal (<23.0 kg/m2), overweight to obese (≥ 23.0 kg/m2)