The Effect of Physical and Mental Health and Health Behavior on the Self-Rated Health of Pregnant Women

Abstract

Self-rated health (SRH) is an evaluation tool to assess an individual’s level of health, including both general health and personal experience. There have been existing studies on women’s SRH; however, few studies have been on pregnant women’s SRH and its associated factors. This study investigated the SRH of pregnant women and their factors using the Korea Community Health Survey. The chi-squared test and multivariable logistic regression were used to investigate the effects of demographic, physical, and mental health and health behaviors on the SRH of pregnant women. As a result of the study, 54.0% out of 1032 pregnant women had good SRH. Their SRH score was good when they were young, economically active, and living in cities. Poor SRH was observed with depression, hypertension, and after experiencing a fall. Good SRH was found when they exercised and slept for more than 8 h a day. This study is the first to observe the SRH of pregnant women and its related factors in South Korea.