Self-rated health, subjective social status, and middle-aged mortality in a changing society

Behav Med. 2004 Summer;30(2):65-70. doi: 10.3200/BMED.30.2.65-72.

Abstract

In this study, the authors examined the relationships between self-rated health and subjective and objective socioeconomic status (as measured by income and education) in relation to middle-aged mortality differences in men and women across 20 counties in Hungary through a cross-sectional, ecological study. The authors interviewed 12,643 people in a Hungarostudy 2002 survey, profiling the Hungarian population according to gender, age, and county. They found that mean self-rated health and self-rated disability at the county level were significantly associated with middle-aged mortality differences among counties, with male mortality more closely associated with self-rated health. The authors also noted that self-rated health and socioeconomic status of the opposite gender were significantly associated with middle-aged mortality, but the strength of the association differed by gender. Finally, male middle-aged mortality was more strongly connected to female subjective and objective social status than female mortality was connected with male social status.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attitude to Health*
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Female
  • Health Status*
  • Humans
  • Ungarn
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mortality / trends*
  • Sampling Studies
  • Sex Factors
  • Social Class*