Association between life satisfaction, self-esteem, and health checkup participation: A population-based longitudinal study in South Korea

Objective: Previous studies have shown that background sociodemographic factors are associated with health checkup participation. However, little is known about the psychological determinants of health checkup participation in longitudinal studies. This study explored the psychological determinants of health checkup participation based on a longitudinal study in South Korea. Methods: Data were retrieved from a nationwide, longitudinal panel study in South Korea, which included community-dwelling general adults, conducted from 2005 to 2022. Established scales for assessing life satisfaction and self-esteem were employed, and life satisfaction and self-esteem levels were categorized into four groups based on quartile values (lowest, low, high, and highest). Respondents reported whether they had undergone a health checkup in the past year. Fixed effects logistic regressions were fitted to determine within-individual associations between life satisfaction, self-esteem, and health checkup participation (n = 15,771; 171,943 observations). Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) were determined. Results: Compared with the lowest life satisfaction, the highest life satisfaction is associated with increased odds of health checkup participation (OR: 1.17, 95 % CI: 1.13–1.23). Compared to the lowest self-esteem level, the highest self-esteem level was positively associated with health checkup participation (OR, 1.14; 95 % CI: 1.10–1.18). The odds of participating in health checkups were also positively associated with age, income, and educational level. Conclusion: Although the effect sizes were modest, high life satisfaction and self-esteem were associated with an increased likelihood of participating in health checkups.