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. 2013 Mar;74(3):104-10.
doi: 10.4046/trd.2013.74.3.104. Epub 2013 Mar 29.

Increased tuberculosis burden due to demographic transition in Korea from 2001 to 2010

Young Kil Park  1 , Yoon-Sung Park, Kyoung In Na, En Hi Cho, Sang-Sook Shin, Hee Jin Kim
Affiliations

Increased tuberculosis burden due to demographic transition in Korea from 2001 to 2010

Young Kil Park et al. Tuberc Respir Dis (Seoul). 2013 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Notified tuberculosis (TB) cases in Korea have not decreased over the last decade (2001-2010).

Methods: To clarify the reasons, we analyzed an annual report on notified tuberculosis patients and age-specific population drift in Korea.

Results: Compared to the age-specific notified TB cases between 2001 and 2010, distinctive features in notified TB cases and new cases increased markedly in people aged 45-54 years and in patients over 65 years old, whereas those between 15-34 years in 2010 decreased drastically. In particular, notified TB individuals over 65 years old occupied 29.6% of the cases in 2010, which was 1.5 times higher than that in 2001. The main reason not to decrease in notified TB patients for the last decade (2001-2010) was due to the increasing elderly population as well as the aging of baby boomers, which have a higher risk of TB development.

Conclusion: Korea needs to pay attention to the older population in order to successfully decrease the burden of TB in the future.

Keywords: Aging; Population Dynamics; Tuberculosis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of age-specific notified tuberculosis (TB) cases between 2001 and 2010. Distinctive features of TB cases markedly increased in 45-54 year olds and those over 65 year olds in 2010.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of notified age-specific tuberculosis (TB) rates per 100,000 people between 2001 and 2010. The TB rates in 2010 were reduced in all age groups compared to 2001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trend of age-specific notified new tuberculosis (TB) cases for the last decade (2001-2010). New TB cases increased in those over 45 year olds, particularly in individuals aged 65 or over compared to 2001 TB patients in 2010.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Demographic change of age specific population from 1980 to 2010. The old age group has increased steadily while the younger age group has decreased.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Prospective age-specific populations in the future (data from Statistics Korea). Baby boomers would be the main cause for the increasing old age group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual report on the notified tuberculosis patients in Korea, 2001. Seoul: Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention; 2002.
    1. Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual report on the notified tuberculosis patients in Korea, 2002. Seoul: Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention; 2003.
    1. Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual report on the notified tuberculosis patients in Korea, 2003. Seoul: Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention; 2004.