Table 1. General characteristics of the research subjects.
| Variables | Subcategory | Total (%) | User of TKM (%) | Non-user of TKM (%) | χ2/t | p-value |
| Gender | Male | 1,191 (32.8) | 347 (29.6) | 844 (34.4) | 8.19 | .005 |
| Female | 2,439 (67.2) | 826 (70.4) | 1,613 (65.6) | |||
| Age | <40 | 295 (8.1) | 109 (9.3) | 186 (7.6) | 39.39 | <.001 |
| 40–49 | 518 (14.3) | 207 (17.6) | 311 (12.7) | |||
| 50–59 | 796 (21.9) | 289 (24.6) | 507 (20.6) | |||
| 60–69 | 1,049 (28.9) | 302 (25.7) | 747 (30.4) | |||
| ≥70 | 972 (26.8) | 266 (22.7) | 706 (28.7) | |||
| Living with spouse | Yes | 2,723 (75.0) | 879 (74.9) | 1,844 (75.0) | .006 | .967 |
| No | 907 (25.0) | 294 (25.1) | 613 (24.9) | |||
| Education level | Less than elementary school graduate | 1,633 (45.0) | 490 (41.8) | 1,143 (46.5) | 11.54 | .009 |
| Middle school graduate | 613 (16.9) | 193 (16.5) | 420 (17.1) | |||
| High school graduate | 908 (25.0) | 331 (28.2) | 577 (23.5) | |||
| Some college or higher | 476 (13.1) | 159 (13.6) | 317 (12.9) | |||
| Residency in metropolitanarea | Yes | 1,430 (39.4) | 499 (42.5) | 931 (37.9) | 7.19 | .008 |
| No | 2,200 (60.6) | 674 (57.5) | 1,526 (62.1) | |||
| Health insurance type | NHI | 3,308 (91.1) | 1,091 (93.0) | 2,217 (90.2) | 7.58 | .006 |
| Medical Aid | 322 (8.9) | 82 (7.0) | 240 (9.8) | |||
| Supplementary PHI | Yes | 2,522 (69.5) | 881 (75.1) | 1,641 (66.8) | 25.90 | <.001 |
| No | 1,108 (30.5) | 292 (24.9) | 816 (33.2) | |||
| Annual household income (mean ± SD) (US dollars) | 24,755±22,609 | 26,574±22,775 | 23,887±22,484 | −3.35 | .001 | |
| Restriction(s) on daily life | Yes | 389 (10.7) | 102 (8.7) | 287 (11.7) | 7.90 | .019 |
| No | 3,240 (89.2) | 1,071 (91.3) | 2,169 (88.2) | |||
| Number of chronic diseases (mean ± SD) | 3.2±2.1 | 3.3±2.2 | 3.1±2.1 | −2.21 | .027 | |
| Disability | Yes | 373 (10.3) | 87 (7.4) | 286 (11.6) | 15.36 | <.001 |
| No | 3,257 (89.7) | 1,086 (92.6) | 2,171 (88.4) | |||
| Hospitalization | Yes | 543 (15.0) | 154 (13.1) | 389 (15.8) | 4.56 | .033 |
| No | 3,087 (85.0) | 1,019 (86.9) | 2,068 (84.2) | |||
| Number of visits to conventional medical institutions | ≤4 | 1,960 (54.0) | 710 (60.5) | 1,250 (50.9) | 29.79 | <.001 |
| ≥5 | 1,670 (46.0) | 463 (39.5) | 1,207 (49.1) | |||
| Smoking | No smoking history | 2,476 (68.2) | 828 (70.6) | 1,648 (67.1) | 4.53 | .102 |
| Past smoker | 604 (16.6) | 179 (15.3) | 425 (17.3) | |||
| Current smoker | 550 (15.1) | 166 (14.2) | 384 (15.6) | |||
| Drinking | Not drink | 1,469 (40.5) | 451 (38.4) | 1,018 (41.4) | 6.50 | .039 |
| Less than once a week | 1,405 (38.7) | 489 (41.7) | 916 (37.3) | |||
| More than 2–3 times a week | 756 (20.8) | 233 (19.9) | 523 (21.3) | |||
| Regular exercise | Yes | 1,239 (34.1) | 428 (36.5) | 811 (33.0) | 4.28 | .040 |
| No | 2,391 (65.9) | 745 (63.5) | 1,646 (67.0) | |||
| Total | 3,630 (100.0) | 1,173 (32.3) | 2,457 (67.7) |
TKM, traditional Korean medicine; NHI, national health insurance; PHI, private health insurance; SD, standard deviation.