Predictors of Depression among Individuals Receiving the Basic Livelihood Security Program Benefits in Korea: A Study Based on the Sixth and Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2018)

The purpose of this study is to verify the relationship between oral health behaviors and depression and influencing factors on depression to establish strategies that can contribute to improvement of mental health problems such as depression in vulnerable social class recipients. This study is a descriptive correlation study conducted on basic livelihood recipients over the age of 19 who responded to the 6th~7th (2013~2018) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In this study, a total of 2749 people who met the criteria for subject selection were included in final analysis after requesting and downloading their raw data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey through the consent process mandated by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 2749 subjects, 279 were diagnosed with depression, accounting for 10.1% of the total. The collected data were analyzed using t-tests and chi-squared tests, and factors affecting depression were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Our results showed that the factors affecting depression were 1.74 times for men (95% CI = 1.29–2.24), 1.37 times for older people (95% CI = 1.01–1.87), and 1.66 times for low education (95% CI = 1.21–2.27). Subjects with impairment in daily activities had 1.89 times (95% CI = 1.43–2.52) higher risk. Subjects with moderate physical activity and subjects with economic activity showed a lower risk (95% CI = 0.30–0.73) and 0.52 times (95% CI = 0.30–0.72), respectively, than subjects who did not. We confirmed that the probability of being diagnosed with depression decreased, and the perceived health status was 0.36 times lower (95% CI = 0.22–0.61) than those with good status. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare countermeasures that reflect various aspects in consideration of not only age and gender, but also daily life and emotional state when establishing policies for vulnerable classes such as recipients of basic livelihood.