Can a Single General Self-Rated Health Question Mirror Social  Determinant of Health?

Zahed  Rezaei; Nastaran  Keshavarz Mohammadi; Hamidreza  Pouragha; Elham  Shakibazadeh

doi:10.18502/ijph.v51i10.10994

Zahed Rezaei Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Nastaran Keshavarz Mohammadi School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hamidreza Pouragha Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Elham Shakibazadeh Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v51i10.10994

Keywords: Self-rated health; Socioeconomic status; Workplace; Employees; Social determinants of health; Iran

Abstract

Background: Self-rated health (SRH) indicator is widely used and recommended in health research as a standard indicator for measuring health in different populations. This paper reports SRH of employees at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran; and its related factors.

Methods: We used the TUMS Employee's Cohort Study (TEC) data, collected from September 2017 to August 2019. SRH of 2158 employees were assessed using a single question. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to determine factors associated with sub-optimal SRH.

Results: Overall, 14.9% (n = 321) of respondents rated their health as sub-optimal. Differences were observed with subgroups. Women, lowersocioeconomic status (SES), experiences of more economic fluctuation conditions and lower reading scores could predict sub-optimal SRHvariations in crude and adjusted regression analyses. The age, social capital, work experience and employment status could predict sub-optimal SRH variations only in crude regression analyses (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Differences in SRH report reflected differences in socioeconomic conditions. The biggest gap was observed between people of different SES (five times). Considering that SRH reflected socioeconomic characteristics of individuals, it may be considered as a quick, non-expensive, and simple way of identifying groups in need of addressing their social determinants of health.