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Self-rated health: Biological continuum or social discontinuity?

Author

Listed:
  • Smith, Anthony M. A.
  • Shelley, Julia M.
  • Dennerstein, Lorraine

Abstract

Correlates of self-rated health among a randomly selected sample of 1863 Australian-born women 45-55 years of age were examined in two logistic regression analyses: one comparing a self-rated health of worse than one's peers with a self-rated health the same as one's peers; and, one comparing a self-rated health of better than one's peers with a self-rated health the same as one's peers. The final model for worse health was largely a reflection of the physical experience of ill health while that for better health was a more complex construct including not only the absence of illness but also markers of sociodemographic advantage and self-image. The two models had only three variables in common. Notably, the relationship between the outcome measures and one common variable, body mass index, differed markedly. It is suggested that previous analyses of self-rated health have had their power to adequately describe correlates and determinants of health status constrained. By assuming that the various self-rated health states are part of a continuum and employing statistical methods consistent with that assumption, previous studies have been unable to demonstrate the discontinuity among such states. In particular, it is suggested that self-rated health is at least in part a reflection of social role and as there is no basis for assuming that such roles form a continuum as the use of correlation-based analyses imply, then such analyses are inappropriate.

Suggested Citation

  • Smith, Anthony M. A. & Shelley, Julia M. & Dennerstein, Lorraine, 1994. "Self-rated health: Biological continuum or social discontinuity?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 77-83, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:39:y:1994:i:1:p:77-83
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan Houdmont & Liza Jachens & Raymond Randall & Sadie Hopson & Sean Nuttall & Stamatia Pamia, 2019. "What Does a Single-Item Measure of Job Stressfulness Assess?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Teresa García-Muñoz & Shoshana Neuman & Tzahi Neuman, 2014. "Subjective Health Status of the Older Population: Is It Related to Country-Specific Economic Development Measures?," Working Papers 2014-02, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    3. McDermott, Robyn & Beaver, Carol & Zhao, Yuejen, 1997. "Outcomes-based resource allocation for indigenous health services: a model for Northern Australia?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 69-78, January.
    4. Prus, Steven G., 2011. "Comparing social determinants of self-rated health across the United States and Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 50-59, July.
    5. Gabadinho, Alexis & Ritschard, Gilbert, 2016. "Analyzing State Sequences with Probabilistic Suffix Trees: The PST R Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 72(i03).
    6. Cheng, Sheung-Tak & Chan, Alfred C.M., 2006. "Social support and self-rated health revisited:: Is there a gender difference in later life?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 118-122, July.
    7. Rainer Reile & Mall Leinsalu, 2013. "Differentiating positive and negative self-rated health: results from a cross-sectional study in Estonia," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(4), pages 555-564, August.
    8. Joanna Jurewicz & Dorota Kaleta, 2020. "Correlates of Poor Self-Assessed Health Status among Socially Disadvantaged Populations in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-18, February.
    9. García-Muñoz, Teresa & Neuman, Shoshana & Neuman, Tzahi, 2014. "Health Risk Factors among the Older European Populations: Personal and Country Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 8529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Jylhä, Marja, 2009. "What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 307-316, August.
    11. Duncan Thomas & Elizabeth Frankenberg, 2001. "The Measurement and Interpretation of Health in Social Surveys," Working Papers 01-06, RAND Corporation.
    12. Catherine Gaumé & Guillaume Wunsch, 2010. "Self-Rated Health in the Baltic Countries, 1994–1999," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 26(4), pages 435-457, November.

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    Keywords

    self-rated health women methods;

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