The Role of Individual Income in Modulating the Impact of Health Determinants: Exploring the Interplay between Socioeconomic Factors and Health Outcomes

Abstract

This article analyses the self-perceived health of the population surveyed by the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), with 316,277 observations. The main novelties of this research are: first, we use the econometric technique of quantile regression, which will allow us to distinguish the respondent’s income level. Second, the personal, social, lifestyle and macroeconomic context dimensions of the respondents are considered simultaneously as determinants of self-perceived health. In this way, we will be able to see what the determinants of health are, and whether they vary with income. Finally, it is evident that there are indeed different responses to the same stimulus depending on the level of income, especially in the elasticity of the response, seeing how the higher the income, the more or less the same stimulus influences a person. In addition, it is established that age, nationality and employment status are the most influential variables in self-perceived health.