Despite the fact that aging is frequently accompanied by an increase in chronic conditions
and disabilities, there has been a paucity of reliable and/or representative data on the health-related issues of Korean elderly.Among the few useful studies that have been
conducted is a Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, which was conducted with Korean men
and women aged 45 years and older. Some of the most prevalent chronic diseases were found
to be arthritis, hypertension, osteoporosis, and diabetes. The pain suffered from arthritis
negatively affects the overall quality of life, and the health care costs for hypertension and
diabetes were ranked the first and the third highest in Korea, respectively [6,7]. Both the
visible and hidden costs of such chronic conditions are largely borne by the elderly
themselves, although various groups have argued that society should also bear the cost