South Korea added lung function testing to its national health screening program this year for people aged 56 and 66, but most of those eligible do not know it exists, a survey showed. More than 90% said they would take the test, suggesting that the main gap lies in getting the information to the people who qualify.
The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases released the findings of a public awareness survey on major lung diseases, conducted among 500 men and women aged 18 to 69 nationwide to mark Lung Day 2026. The online panel survey ran from the 14th to the 18th of last month.
Awareness of lung function testing itself was high. Some 14.2% said they knew it very well and 77.8% said they had heard of it but did not know exactly what it was, meaning 92% of respondents had heard of the test at least once.
Only 11.6%, however, knew the test had been included in the national health screening program this year. The remaining 88.4% were unaware of the change, and even among those aged 56 and 66 who are actually eligible, 77.1% did not know.
Asked why, 52.9% said they had not seen anything about it in national screening notices or promotional materials. Another 23.8% said they were not interested in policy changes, and 21.3% said they were not interested in additional tests.
Willingness to be tested was strong. Some 30.0% said they would definitely take a lung function test in the future and 60.2% said they would take it if it were part of their screening, for a combined 90.2%.
Asked which channels would work best to publicize the new test and the need for it, 35.7% pointed to direct notification, such as screening notices from the National Health Insurance Service and KakaoTalk alerts. Public service announcements and news coverage on television and radio followed at 25.3%, social media and online content such as YouTube and Instagram at 18.6%, posters and leaflets at clinics and hospitals along with direct recommendations from doctors at 14.2%, and outreach by local public health centers and communities at 6.2%.
COPD, ILD: 'What Are Those?'
Public awareness of major lung diseases was also limited. The share of respondents who said they knew chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) very well, knew it somewhat, or thought they had heard of it fell to 46% this year from 65.2% a year earlier, a drop of 19.2 percentage points. In this year's survey, only 3.2% said they knew COPD very well and 12.8% said they knew it somewhat.
COPD is a respiratory disease marked by an abnormal inflammatory response in the lungs and restricted airflow, caused by inhaling harmful particles or gases from smoking and other sources. The air sacs break down and the airways narrow, blocking the path for air to leave the lungs. The damage to the lungs and airways builds gradually over years, and lung function cannot be restored once it has deteriorated, making early diagnosis and treatment critical. Though little known to the public, the disease affects 250 million people worldwide and kills 3 million every year.
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) was even less familiar. Some 37.2% said they did not know much about it and 25.8% said they knew nothing about it, meaning 63%, or more than six in 10, said they did not properly understand the condition. Still, 70.4% viewed it as a serious disease. ILD covers conditions in which inflammation and fibrosis develop in the lung interstitium, the tissue supporting the space between air sacs, causing the lungs to stiffen.
Asked what society should do to improve treatment and quality of life for ILD patients, 41.0% chose broader national health insurance coverage for new drugs and treatments. That was followed by raising public awareness of the disease and providing accurate information at 29.8%, strengthening systems for early referral and coordinated care between neighborhood clinics and large hospitals at 15.8%, psychological and social care at 12.4%, and supporting patient groups and advocacy organizations at 1.0%.
"We found that alongside public interest in lung disease, information about the actual programs and the diseases themselves is not being communicated adequately," said Yoo Kwang-ha, chairman of the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases. "For programs newly added to national screening, such as lung function testing, we need continued information through screening notices, medical settings, mass media and online channels so that eligible people can easily understand them and get tested."
