Table 1. General characteristics of South Korean older population, in the data obtained from the KNHANES from 2001 to 2021 (n=38,341)

Total Pre-pandemic During the pandemic
2001-2005 2007-2008 2009-2010 2011-2015 2016-2017 2018-2019 2020 2021
Crude rate, (95% CI)
Overall, n 38,341 4,353 4,343 6,546 3,147 6,562 6,814 3,281 3,295
Age group, years, n (95% CI)
50-59 13,676 (35.67) 1,788 (41.08) 1,579 (36.36) 2,400 (36.66) 1,152 (36.61) 2,317 (35.31) 2,367 (34.74) 1,058 (32.25) 1,015 (30.80)
60-69 12,815 (33.42) 1,553 (35.68) 1,492 (34.35) 2,210 (33.76) 1,020 (32.41) 2,111 (32.17) 2,225 (32.65) 1,105 (33.68) 1,099 (33.35)
70-79 9,012 (23.50) 821 (18.86) 1,037 (23.88) 1,578 (24.11) 751 (23.86) 1,577 (24.03) 1,610 (23.63) 819 (24.96) 819 (24.86)
≥80 2,838 (7.40) 191 (4.39) 235 (5.41) 358 (5.47) 224 (7.12) 557 (8.49) 612 (8.98) 299 (9.11) 362 (10.99)
Sex, n (95% CI)
Male 16,505 (43.05) 1,866 (42.87) 1,800 (41.45) 2,837 (43.34) 1,370 (43.53) 2,839 (43.26) 2,927 (42.96) 1,457 (44.41) 1,409 (42.76)
Female 21,836 (56.95) 2,487 (57.13) 2,543 (58.55) 3,709 (56.66) 1,777 (56.47) 3,723 (56.74) 3,887 (57.04) 1,824 (55.59) 1,886 (57.24)
Region of residence, n (95% CI)
Urban 27,405 (71.48) 2,866 (65.84) 2,688 (61.89) 4,421 (67.54) 2,396 (76.14) 4,967 (75.69) 5,227 (76.71) 2,478 (75.53) 2,362 (71.68)
Rural 10,936 (28.52) 1,487 (34.16) 1,655 (38.11) 2,125 (32.46) 751 (23.86) 1,595 (24.31) 1,587 (23.29) 803 (24.47) 933 (28.32)
Household income, n (95% CI)
Lowest quartile 12,262 (31.98) 1,692 (38.87) 1,578 (36.33) 2,254 (34.43) 917 (29.14) 2,016 (30.72) 1,968 (28.88) 888 (27.06) 949 (28.80)
Second quartile 9,842 (25.67) 1,029 (23.64) 1,219 (28.07) 1,625 (24.82) 833 (26.47) 1,700 (25.91) 1,768 (25.95) 829 (25.27) 839 (25.46)
Third quartile 7,995 (20.85) 839 (19.27) 770 (17.73) 1,325 (20.24) 692 (21.99) 1,379 (21.01) 1,483 (21.76) 778 (23.71) 729 (22.12)
Highest quartile 8,242 (21.50) 793 (18.22) 776 (17.87) 1,342 (20.50) 705 (22.40) 1,467 (22.36) 1,595 (23.41) 786 (23.96) 778 (23.61)
Education level, n (95% CI)
Elementary school or lower 16,546 (43.15) 2,440 (56.05) 2,442 (56.23) 3,275 (50.03) 1,347 (42.8) 2,540 (38.71) 2,310 (33.9) 1,097 (33.43) 1,095 (33.23)
Middle school 6,509 (16.98) 746 (17.14) 761 (17.52) 1,201 (18.35) 527 (16.75) 1,139 (17.36) 1,117 (16.39) 518 (15.79) 500 (15.17)
High school 9,156 (23.88) 798 (18.33) 748 (17.22) 1,323 (20.21) 762 (24.21) 1,651 (25.16) 1,986 (29.15) 921 (28.07) 967 (29.35)
College or higher 6,130 (15.99) 369 (8.48) 392 (9.03) 747 (11.41) 511 (16.24) 1,232 (18.77) 1,401 (20.56) 745 (22.71) 733 (22.25)
BMI, kg/m2, n (95% CI)*
Under-weight 1,099 (2.87) 158 (3.63) 140 (3.22) 209 (3.19) 75 (2.38) 176 (2.68) 156 (2.29) 85 (2.59) 100 (3.03)
Normal and over-weight 23,098 (60.24) 2,588 (59.45) 2,615 (60.21) 4,031 (61.58) 1,852 (58.85) 3,922 (59.77) 4,202 (61.67) 1,916 (58.4) 1,972 (59.85)
Obese 14,144 (36.89) 1,607 (36.92) 1,588 (36.56) 2,306 (35.23) 1,220 (38.77) 2,464 (37.55) 2,456 (36.04) 1,280 (39.01) 1,223 (37.12)
Presence of osteoporosis, n (95% CI)
Present 5,169 (13.48) 437 (10.04) 558 (12.85) 898 (13.72) 467 (14.84) 983 (14.98) 959 (14.07) 435 (13.26) 432 (13.11)
Absent 33,172 (86.52) 3,916 (89.96) 3,785 (87.15) 5,648 (86.28) 2,680 (85.16) 5,579 (85.02) 5,855 (85.93) 2,846 (86.74) 2,863 (86.89)
Menopausal status, n (95% CI)
Male 16,505 (43.05) 1,866 (42.87) 1,800 (41.45) 2,837 (43.34) 1,370 (43.53) 2,839 (43.26) 2,927 (42.96) 1,457 (44.41) 1,409 (42.76)
Postmen-opausal 18,504 (48.26) 2,120 (48.70) 2,188 (50.38) 3,330 (50.87) 1,495 (47.51) 3,288 (50.11) 3,222 (47.29) 1,390 (42.37) 1,471 (44.64)
Premen-opausal 3,332 (8.69) 367 (8.43) 355 (8.17) 379 (5.79) 282 (8.96) 435 (6.63) 665 (9.76) 434 (13.23) 415 (12.59)
Weighted rate, (95% CI)
Overall, n 38,341 4,353 4,343 6,546 3,147 6,562 6,814 3,281 3,295
Age group, years, weighted % (95% CI)
50-59 44.68 (43.89 to 45.48) 42.32 (40.51 to 44.13) 47.15 (44.89 to 49.41) 47.05 (45.11 to 48.99) 46.42 (44.01 to 48.83) 45.73 (43.85 to 47.60) 43.88 (41.86 to 45.91) 42.71 (39.64 to 45.77) 41.03 (38.05 to 44.01)
60-69 30.36 (29.74 to 30.97) 34.66 (32.98 to 36.33) 29.83 (28.11 to 31.56) 28.34 (27.03 to 29.64) 27.97 (26.07 to 29.87) 29.11 (27.70 to 30.53) 30.32 (28.71 to 31.93) 31.60 (29.41 to 33.79) 33.37 (31.30 to 35.43)
70-79 18.58 (18.08 to 19.08) 18.51 (17.18 to 19.83) 18.28 (16.80 to 19.76) 19.27 (17.94 to 20.60) 19.51 (17.84 to 21.18) 18.52 (17.41 to 19.64) 18.26 (17.04 to 19.48) 18.48 (16.64 to 20.32) 17.96 (16.15 to 19.78)
≤80 6.39 (6.07 to 6.70) 4.51 (3.82 to 5.20) 4.74 (3.96 to 5.52) 5.35 (4.65 to 6.04) 6.10 (5.06 to 7.14) 6.64 (5.97 to 7.31) 7.54 (6.68 to 8.39) 7.21 (5.93 to 8.49) 7.64 (6.40 to 8.89)
Sex, weighted % (95% CI)
Male 46.74 (46.28 to 47.20) 43.32 (42.32 to 44.32) 46.62 (45.35 to 47.89) 46.42 (45.35 to 47.50) 46.61 (44.94 to 48.28) 47.01 (45.89 to 48.14) 47.30 (46.16 to 48.43) 47.60 (46.10 to 49.11) 47.73 (46.18 to 49.28)
Female 53.26 (52.80 to 53.72) 56.68 (55.68 to 57.68) 53.38 (52.11 to 54.65) 53.58 (52.50 to 54.65) 53.39 (51.72 to 55.06) 52.99 (51.86 to 54.11) 52.70 (51.57 to 53.84) 52.40 (50.89 to 53.90) 52.27 (50.72 to 53.82)
Region of residence, weighted % (95% CI)
Urban 76.92 (75.17 to 78.67) 67.39 (64.92 to 69.86) 73.83 (68.61 to 79.05) 70.67 (65.25 to 76.09) 78.33 (72.19 to 84.48) 79.85 (75.73 to 83.96) 80.74 (76.41 to 85.07) 81.35 (75.02 to 87.67) 78.07 (71.76 to 84.39)
Rural 23.08 (21.33 to 24.83) 32.61 (30.14 to 35.08) 26.17 (20.95 to 31.39) 29.33 (23.91 to 34.75) 21.67 (15.52 to 27.81) 20.15 (16.04 to 24.27) 19.26 (14.93 to 23.59) 18.65 (12.33 to 24.98) 21.93 (15.61 to 28.24)
Household income, weighted % (95% CI)
Lowest quartile 27.06 (26.23 to 27.89) 38.12 (35.54 to 40.69) 29.78 (27.19 to 32.38) 30.47 (28.35 to 32.60) 26.47 (23.90 to 29.03) 26.01 (24.01 to 28.01) 24.98 (22.99 to 26.97) 22.32 (19.21 to 25.44) 21.93 (19.18 to 24.68)
Second quartile 25.09 (24.40 to 25.78) 23.81 (21.91 to 25.72) 28.38 (26.09 to 30.67) 24.94 (23.31 to 26.58) 25.49 (23.14 to 27.83) 24.17 (22.60 to 25.75) 25.55 (23.88 to 27.22) 23.93 (21.30 to 26.57) 24.76 (22.62 to 26.90)
Third quartile 22.74 (22.07 to 23.41) 19.62 (17.88 to 21.36) 19.82 (18.00 to 21.63) 21.38 (19.83 to 22.93) 23.44 (21.00 to 25.87) 23.29 (21.72 to 24.85) 23.29 (21.60 to 24.99) 25.49 (23.08 to 27.90) 24.58 (22.46 to 26.70)
Highest quartile 25.11 (24.18 to 26.04) 18.45 (16.59 to 20.32) 22.02 (19.26 to 24.78) 23.21 (21.15 to 25.26) 24.61 (21.76 to 27.46) 26.53 (24.27 to 28.78) 26.18 (23.99 to 28.37) 28.25 (24.19 to 32.31) 28.73 (24.81 to 32.64)
Education level, weighted % (95% CI)
Elementary school or lower 37.31 (36.48 to 38.15) 55.04 (52.52 to 57.55) 49.08 (46.39 to 51.77) 46.46 (44.19 to 48.73) 40.13 (37.33 to 42.94) 33.62 (31.78 to 35.46) 29.85 (27.88 to 31.83) 28.31 (25.37 to 31.24) 26.73 (23.70 to 29.75)
Middle school 16.49 (15.99 to 16.99) 17.37 (15.94 to 18.80) 19.01 (17.52 to 20.50) 19.38 (18.09 to 20.67) 15.97 (14.41 to 17.52) 17.07 (15.73 to 18.41) 15.18 (14.10 to 16.26) 14.05 (12.36 to 15.74) 13.69 (12.12 to 15.25)
High school 27.09 (26.44 to 27.73) 18.83 (17.15 to 20.51) 20.61 (18.77 to 22.46) 21.93 (20.46 to 23.40) 26.00 (24.07 to 27.93) 27.27 (25.74 to 28.80) 32.03 (30.43 to 33.62) 31.68 (29.33 to 34.02) 33.55 (31.17 to 35.93)
College or higher 19.11 (18.31 to 19.91) 8.76 (7.57 to 9.96) 11.29 (9.26 to 13.33) 12.23 (10.50 to 13.96) 17.90 (15.38 to 20.42) 22.04 (20.03 to 24.05) 22.94 (20.88 to 25.00) 25.97 (22.50 to 29.43) 26.04 (22.99 to 29.08)
BMI, kg/m2, weighted % (95% CI)*
Under-weight 2.62 (2.44 to 2.81) 3.57 (2.98 to 4.15) 2.84 (2.28 to 3.40) 2.72 (2.24 to 3.19) 2.27 (1.70 to 2.83) 2.55 (2.14 to 2.97) 2.21 (1.78 to 2.64) 2.71 (1.96 to 3.47) 2.68 (2.08 to 3.28)
Normal and over-weight 60.05 (59.45 to 60.65) 59.65 (58.25 to 61.05) 59.53 (57.88 to 61.17) 60.95 (59.57 to 62.34) 59.01 (56.87 to 61.14) 59.93 (58.47 to 61.39) 61.44 (59.96 to 62.91) 57.90 (55.88 to 59.92) 60.05 (57.91 to 62.19)
Obese 37.33 (36.73 to 37.93) 36.79 (35.26 to 38.31) 37.64 (35.87 to 39.40) 36.33 (34.93 to 37.73) 38.73 (36.59 to 40.86) 37.52 (36.07 to 38.96) 36.35 (34.91 to 37.79) 39.39 (37.45 to 41.33) 37.27 (35.12 to 39.43)
Presence of osteoporosis, weighted % (95% CI)
Present 11.52 (11.15 to 11.90) 9.56 (8.62 to 10.49) 10.45 (9.43 to 11.47) 11.87 (10.91 to 12.83) 12.78 (11.45 to 14.11) 12.49 (11.56 to 13.42) 11.73 (10.78 to 12.67) 11.15 (10.08 to 12.23) 10.74 (9.46 to 12.02)
Absent 88.48 (88.10 to 88.85) 90.44 (89.51 to 91.38) 89.55 (88.53 to 90.57) 88.13 (87.17 to 89.09) 87.22 (85.89 to 88.55) 87.51 (86.58 to 88.44) 88.27 (87.33 to 89.22) 88.85 (87.77 to 89.92) 89.26 (87.98 to 90.54)
Menopausal status, weighted % (95% CI)
Male 46.74 (46.28 to 47.20) 43.32 (42.32 to 44.32) 46.62 (45.35 to 47.89) 46.42 (45.35 to 47.50) 46.61 (44.94 to 48.28) 47.01 (45.89 to 48.14) 47.30 (46.16 to 48.43) 47.60 (46.10 to 49.11) 47.73 (46.18 to 49.28)
Postme-nopausal 44.08 (43.55 to 44.60) 47.99 (46.75 to 49.23) 44.55 (42.99 to 46.10) 47.41 (46.19 to 48.62) 44.08 (42.22 to 45.93) 45.87 (44.66 to 47.08) 42.66 (41.33 to 43.98) 39.13 (37.20 to 41.07) 40.08 (38.43 to 41.74)
Preme-nopausal 9.18 (8.82 to 9.55) 8.69 (7.85 to 9.53) 8.84 (7.81 to 9.86) 6.17 (5.45 to 6.89) 9.31 (8.00 to 10.62) 7.12 (6.32 to 7.91) 10.05 (9.13 to 10.96) 13.26 (11.74 to 14.79) 12.19 (10.92 to 13.46)
BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; KNHANES, Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The KNHANES data from 2012, 2013, and 2014 were excluded.
According to the Asian-Pacific guidelines, the BMI is divided into three groups: underweight (> 18.5 kg/m2), normal and overweight (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), and obese (≤ 25.0 kg/m2).