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Logistic regression assessed diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment travel intentions, with subgroup checks by residence and household income.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/what-drives-patients-preferences-for-cancer-care-in-south-koreas-capital-area-a-study-on-preferences-concerning-cancer-care-facilities/349158/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/what-drives-patients-preferences-for-cancer-care-in-south-koreas-capital-area-a-study-on-preferences-concerning-cancer-care-facilities/349158.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Đào","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-09-22",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the study’s main objective?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"To examine the association between private health insurance enrollment and patients’ willingness to travel for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment care in South Korea’s capital area.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How were participants and data collected?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Data came from a survey conducted by the National Cancer Center of Korea between September and October 2023. 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BMC Health Services Research (2026) 26:693 BMC Health Services Research  \n[https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-14478-2](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-14478-2)  \nRESEARCH Open Access  \nWhat drives patients’ preferences for cancer care in South Korea’s capital area? A study on preferences concerning cancer care facilities  \nNoorhee Son1†, Woorim Kim2†, Woo-Ri Lee3 and Kyu-Tae Han3,4*  \nAbstract  \nBackground Owing to the increasing number of patients diagnosed with cancer and the substantial proportion traveling to the capital area for care in Korea, this study examined the association between private health insurance enrollment and willingness to travel for cancer services.  \nMethods Data were obtained from a survey conducted by the National Cancer Center of Korea between September and October 2023. A total of 3,000 individuals aged 20–69 years were stratified by sex and age across 17 regions, and 1,349 participants residing outside the capital area comprised the final analytic sample. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between private health insurance enrollment and willingness to travel to the capital area for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment care. Subgroup analyses were performed by area of residence and household income level.  \nResults Among the 1,349 participants, 981 (72 . 7%) had private health insurance. Individuals with private health insurance showed a significantly higher willingness to travel to the capital area for cancer diagnosis (odds ratio  \n[OR] = 1 . 67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28–2. 18), treatment (OR = 1 . 67, 95% CI 1.28–2. 19), and post-treatment care (OR = 1 .48, 95% CI 1.12–1. 97) . These patterns were consistent across residential areas and income groups.  \nConclusion This study highlights private health insurance as an important factor shaping patients’ care-seeking behavior and potentially reinforcing regional disparities in access to cancer services. Strengthening insurance policies and addressing socioeconomic inequalities may be essential to ensuring equitable access to high-quality cancer care across regions.  \nKeywords Private health insurance, Willingness to travel, Cancer care, Household income, Area of residence  \n†Noorhee Son and Woorim Kim contributed equally to this work.  \n*Correspondence:  \nKyu-Tae Han  \n[kthan.phd@gmail.com](kthan.phd@gmail.com)  \n1Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), HIRA Research Institute, Wonju, Republic of Korea  \n2Cancer Knowledge & Information Center, National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Republic of Korea 3Division of Cancer Control & Policy, National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Republic of Korea  \n4Division of Cancer Control & Policy, National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, 809 Madu 1(il)-dong, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 10408, South Korea  \n© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creati](http://creati)[vecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd","cbCaiq2jU1vO8y0f","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiq2jU1vO8y0f","pdf",1625634,13,"English","# Background\n# Methods\n# Results\n# Conclusion\n# Introduction\n## Financing and access under National Health Insurance\n## Capital-area concentration of cancer services\n# Previous studies","[{\"question\":\"What is the study’s main objective?\",\"answer\":\"To examine the association between private health insurance enrollment and patients’ willingness to travel for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment care in South Korea’s capital area.\"},{\"question\":\"How were participants and data collected?\",\"answer\":\"Data came from a survey conducted by the National Cancer Center of Korea between September and October 2023. Of 3,000 sampled adults aged 20–69 across regions, 1,349 participants living outside the capital area were included in the analysis.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the results show about private health insurance and travel willingness?\",\"answer\":\"Participants with private health insurance had significantly higher willingness to travel for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment care, with effects consistent across residential areas and income groups.\"}]","What drives patients’ preferences for cancer care in South Korea’s capital area - A study on preferences concerning cancer care facilities | PDF",1790082007,33]