Abstract
Abstract
Background
Several studies have demonstrated that self-rated health status is affected by socioeconomic variables. However, there is little knowledge about whether perceived economic resources affect people’s health. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between self-rated health status and different measures of income. Specifically, the effect of both objective income and perceived economic resources are estimated for a very large sample of households in Italy. By estimating this relationship, this paper aims at filling the previously mentioned gap.
Methods
The data used are from the 2015 European Health Interview Survey and were collected using information from approximately 16,000 households in 562 Italian municipalities. Ordinary and generalized ordered probit models were used in estimating the effects of a set of covariates, among others measures of income, on the self-rated health status.
Results
The results suggest that the subjective income, measured by the perceived economic resources, affects the probability of reporting a higher self-rate health status more than objective income. The results also indicate that other variables, such as age, educational level, presence/absence of chronic disease, and employment status, affect self-rated health more significantly than objective income. It is also found that males report more frequently higher rating than females.
Conclusions
Our analysis demonstrates that perceived income affects significantly self-rated health. While self-perceived economic resources have been used to assess economic well-being and satisfaction, they can also be used to assess stress levels and related health outcomes. Our findings suggest that low subjective income adversely affects subjective health. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between effects of income and individuals’ perceptions of their economic resources or overall financial situation on their health. From a gender perspective, our results show that females are less likely to have high rating than males. However, as females perceive an improved economic situation, on the margin, the likelihood of a higher self-rated health increases compared to males.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Health Policy
Reference55 articles.
1. Adler N, Stewart J. Health disparities across the lifespan: meaning, methods, and mechanisms. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010;1186(1):5–23.
2. Balasubramanyam A, Rao S, Misra R, Sekhar RV, Ballantyne CM. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and associated risk factors in Asian Indians. J Immigr Minor Health. 2008;10(4):313–23.
3. Banks J, Marmot M, Oldfield Z, Smith JP. Disease and disadvantage in the United States and in England. J Am Med Assoc. 2006;295(17):2037–45.
4. Bertakis KD, Azari R, Helms LJ, Callahan EJ, Robbins JA. Gender differences in the utilization of health care services. J Fam Pract. 2000;49(2):147–52.
5. Bidyadhar D. Influence of perceived economic well-being on self-rated health status of the older adults aged 50 years and above in India. Int Res J Soc Sci. 2015;4(4):34–42.
Cited by
28 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献