In the same year that South Korea became a superaged society in December 2024, the top cause of hospitalization shifted from giving birth to receiving treatment for senile cataracts, new health statistics showed.
According to statistics revealed by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on Sunday, 337,270 patients were hospitalized for senile cataracts in 2024, a 5.4 percent increase compared to 2023’s numbers at 320,061.
Senile cataracts are a vision-limiting condition caused by aging or damage to the eye, where the natural lens becomes cloudy or opaque.
In 2024, the second most common causes for hospitalization were pneumonia, at 308,287 patients, followed by patients with gastroenteritis and colitis caused by infectious and unspecified origins with 244,125 patients, and other disc disorders with 220,212 patients.
Notably, in 2014, mothers giving birth to newborns took up the highest proportion of those being hospitalized, with 373,597 patients being recorded. Ten years ago, patients being hospitalized due to senile cataracts reached 251,008.
However, in 2024, the number of patients being hospitalized for giving birth totalled only 207,398 patients, ranking No. 5.
The HIRA defined this change in trends to be due to low birth rates and Korea becoming an aged society, with the number of newborns drastically decreasing to 240,000 in 2024 from 430,000 in 2014, while the elderly population increased over the same period. A society is considered superaged when more than 20 percent of its population is aged 65 or older.
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
