• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.18-27
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• 2015

Objectives: Civic participation, that which directly influences important decisions in our personal lives, is considered necessary for developing a society. We hypothesized that civic participation might be related to self-rated health status. Methods: We constructed a multi-level analysis using data from the World Value Survey (44 countries, n=50 859). Results: People who participated in voting and voluntary social activities tended to report better subjective health than those who did not vote or participate in social activities, after controlling for socio-demographic factors at the individual level. A negative association with unconventional political activity and subjective health was found, but this effect disappeared in a subset analysis of only the 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Moreover, social participation and unconventional political participation had a statistically significant contextual association with subjective health status, but this relationship was not consistent throughout the analysis. In the analysis of the 44 countries, social participation was of borderline significance, while in the subset analysis of the OECD countries unconventional political participation was a stronger contextual determinant of subjective health. The democratic index was a significant factor in determining self-rated health in both analyses, while public health expenditure was a significant factor in analysis of 18 countries. Conclusions: Our investigation suggests that civic participation, including unconventional political activity at the contextual level, might be a significant determinant of health status of a country.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.2.1-2.14
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• 2022

Background: Because income and working hours are closely related, the health impact of working hours can vary according to economic status. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between working hours and the risk of poor self-rated health according to household income level. Methods: We used the data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI and VII. The information on working hours and self-rated health was obtained from the questionnaire. After stratifying by household income level, the risk of poor self-rated health for long working hour group (≥ 52 hours a week), compared to the 35-51 working hour group as a reference, were calculated using multiple logistic regression. Results: Long working hours increased the risk of poor self-rated health in the group with the highest income, but not in the group with the lowest income. On the other hand, the overall weighted prevalence of poor self-rated health was higher in the low-income group. Conclusions: The relationship between long working hours and the risk of poor self-rated health varied by household income level. This phenomenon, in which the health effects of long working hours appear to diminish in low-income households can be referred to as the 'poor worker's long working hours paradox'. Our findings suggest that the recent working hour restriction policy implemented by the Korean government should be promoted, together with a basic wage preservation to improve workers' general health and well-being.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.173-180
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• 2008

Objectives : The purposes of this study were to examine the health-related quality of life(HRQoL) and to identify its related factors for a group of rural adults. Methods : The study subjects were 1,901 adults who were aged 40-70 years and who were living in Naju City, Jeollanamdo. The sociodemographic characteristics, health-related behavior, health status and global self-rated health were collected for statistical analysis. The health-related quality of life was measured by the Euroqol EQ-5D instrument. The differences on the EQ-5D index between the groups were assessed with t-test, ANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results : Overall, the mean value of the EQ-5D index was $0.884{\pm}0.140$ and this score was significantly different according to the socioeconomic characteristics, the health-related behavior, the health status and the global self-rated health. According to the results from the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the HRQoL was significantly reduced for females, older subjects, and other subjects with no spouse and the subjects with osteoporosis, obesity, mental distress or poorer global self-rated health. Conclusions : The HRQoL for rural adults was related to the socioeconomic characteristics, the health status and the global self-rated health, A better understanding of the factors related to the HRQoL would help to improve the rural adults' quality of life.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2012

Objectives: This study examined the trends in gender disparity in the self-rated health of people aged 25 to 64 in South Korea, a rapidly changing society, with specific attention to socio-structural inequality. Methods: Representative sample data were obtained from six successive, nationwide Social Statistics Surveys of the Korean National Statistical Office performed during 1992 to 2010. Results: The results showed a convergent trend in poor self-rated health between genders since 1992, with a sharper decline in gender disparity observed in younger adults (aged 25 to 44) than in older adults (aged 45 to 64). The diminishing gender gap seemed to be attributable to an increase in women;s educational attainment levels and to their higher status in the labor market. Conclusions: The study indicated the importance of equitable social opportunities for both genders for understanding the historical trends in the gender gap in the self-reported health data from South Korea.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.200-210
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• 2016

This study was performed to reveal the factors determine self-rated health status between middle aged and elderly living in community. The subjects for this study consisted of 142 middle aged and 201 elders who lived in 3 cities of convenience sampling method. The Data was collected through personal interviews with questionnaires from March to July, 2014. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression were used with SPSS Statistics program. The determinants on self-rated health status were present illness, stress management, health responsibility, fatigue, anger, tension, and social support among the middle-aged persons and physical activity, present illness, confusion, and exercise among elderly persons. On the basis of the results in this study, we should develop differentiated health promotion programs through education, counselling and health examination for the middle-aged adults and elderly.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.94-107
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelations among current status of nutrition education, satisfaction with school lunch, school lunch leftovers and self-rated mental or physical health in order to find out the effective method of nutrition education. For this, a questionnaire survey of 623 primary school 5th and 6th-graders in Daejeon area was carried out. The eating places were classrooms (41.1%) and restaurants (58.9%). A 59.2% of students have received nutrition education and the opportunity of receiving nutrition education was more in 5th-graders than in 6thgraders (p < 0.001). The score of nutrition knowledge was $9.4\;{\pm}\;2.8$ out of 15. When the score of nutrition knowledge was higher, the practical use of nutrition knowledge was higher (r = 0.134, p < 0.01); the score of school lunch leftovers were less (r = -0.116, p < 0.01); and the score of self-rated mental health was more positive (r = 0.198, p < 0.01). The practical use of nutrition knowledge was $2.9\;{\pm}\;1.1$ out of 5. When the practical use of nutrition knowledge was higher, satisfaction with school lunch was higher (r = 0.105, p < 0.01); school lunch leftovers were less (r = -0.103, p < 0.01); the score of self-rated positive mental health was higher (r = 0.293, p < 0.01); and the scores of self-rated negative mental health (r = -0.119, p < 0.05) and physical health (r = -0.126, p < 0.01) were lower, thus rating their health more positively. The score of satisfaction with school lunch was $3.4\;{\pm}\;1.0$ out of 5. When the satisfaction with school lunch was higher, the score of school lunch leftovers was less (r = -0.216, p < 0.01); the score of self-rated positive mental health was higher (r = 0.147, p < 0.01); and the score of self-rated negative health was lower (r = -0.121, p < 0.01). The score of school lunch leftovers was $2.9\;{\pm}\;1.4$ out of 5. When the school lunch leftovers were less, self-rated positive mental health was significantly higher (r = -0.146, p < 0.01); and the scores of self-rated negative mental health (r = 0.135, p < 0.01) and physical health (r = 0.223, p < 0.01) were significantly lower, thus presenting positive health. Therefore, in order to maintain positive health condition, it is necessary to carry out nutrition education, which is able to raise the nutrition knowledge and practical use of nutrition knowledge, school lunch satisfaction and to reduce the school lunch leftovers.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.431-444
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• 2019

Background: This study aimed to properly manage diseases such as blood sugar control so that patients with diabetes can benefit from both medication and health activities. Also, these health practices are greatly influenced by self-rated health, a subjective assessment of health status. Because self-rated health does not necessarily match the objective health status, it is important to identify which factors affect self-rated health. Methods: For the study, the data was gathered from the 4th-6th National Health Nutrition Survey (2007-2015). Out of the total 73,353 participants in the survey, 2,303 patients with uncontrolled blood sugar with an HbA1c level of more than 7% were selected for the final study. Dependent variables fell into two categories depending on how the participant reported whether he or she was in good health or not. Independent variables included socio-demographics, health behavioral, and health status factors. This study performed logistic regression analysis. Results: Out of 2,303 participants, 18.1% reported that their heath was 'good,' despite the fact that their blood sugar level was not controlled. After running a logistic regression model, the odds ratio of groups that perceive subjective health awareness as good was higher in the groups of people as below: in the people over 60 years old; in the people who graduated from a junior college or higher than those who had a level of education of primary school completion or less; in the people living in Chungnam than those living in Seoul; and in the group with hypertriglyceridemia. Conclusion: The study identified factors associated with those failed to perceive the blood sugar level as a severe health problem despite of the fact that blood sugar was not controlled. To improve public health, diabetes management policies need to be addressed to population groups with these problems above.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2006

There were numerous evidences that subjective health evaluation was a powerful indicator for morbidity and mortality in many countries. Since self-rated health (SRH) was a reasonable health measure, identifying predictors for SRH would be beneficial for assessment of overall health, monitoring health status, and development of health promotion programs. Health risks, health behavior, socioeconomic characteristics and social capital were potential indicators for SRH. We examined association. between SRH and indicators such as health risk factors, subjective living condition, income, education level and dietary variety score. Total 4,262 subjects, aged between 20 and 69 years old, were selected from KNHANES 2001; those who completed health examination, nutrition survey, and provided their socioeconomic information. Results of logistic regression showed that it was likely to have better SRH for those who were younger, male and have higher education, higher income, better living condition, no metabolic syndrome and higher dietary variety.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.518-527
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing health-related quality of life among spouses of older adults with dementia based on an ecological model. Methods: This study used data from the 2015 Korean Community Health Survey with the subjects of 541 spouses of older adults with dementia. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: In this study, 26.5% of quality of life was explained by employment status, physical activity, perception of stress, perception of depressive symptom, self-rated health status, self-rated oral health status, and contact with neighbors. Conclusion: To develop more effective nursing intervention for improvement of quality of life, it needs to consider not only the individual system related factors but also community system related factors including contact with neighbors.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.459-475
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• 2020

This study examined the moderating effect self-rated health has on the association between grandparenting and depressive symptoms. The fourth wave (in 2012) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) was used for the analyses (N=650). The Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) method was applied in order to ensure randomness in the selection of grandparents who participated in grandparenting and those who did not. The dependent variable was depressive symptoms, the independent variable was grandparenting, and the moderating variable was self-rated health. Control variables were education level, age, household income, gender, marital status and life satisfaction. After matching data by CEM, weighted multiple regression was applied with STATA 13.0. Also, simple slope analysis and region of significance were performed to interpret the interaction terms. The results showed that self-rated health had a significant moderating effect. Specifically, for grandparents with high self-rated health, grandparenting was associated with a lower level of depressive symptoms. On the contrary, for grandparents with low self-rated health, there was no difference depending on whether they participated in raising grandchildren. Based on these results, we discussed the need for consideration of self-rated health for grandparents who participated in grandparenting.