Health Status and Health Practices—Alameda and Beyond

Abstract

Using the population of St John's, Newfoundland, we did a constructive replication of previous studies testing the association between health practices and health status. A telephone questionnaire was applied to all adults in a probabilistic sample of households (3300 subjects, 85% response rate). Several health practices and preventive behaviours indexes were developed and tested. An additive index of six practices (breakfast, sleeping, drinking, smoking, weight and exercise) using the Alameda County definitions, and an additive score of five practices (excluding breakfast and with revised definitions for smoking, drinking and exercise) were analysed using log-linear models; there was association between the indexes and self-assessed health status when controlling for sex, age and education, with the exception of the six-practice index in males. The association between these two indexes and several variables and constructs of health status showed that the best relationships were with self-assessed health status and with a construct including variables measuring subjective health.

Clustering of behavioural risk factors and their association with subjective health

“…Several authors have criticised the construction of these additive indices in which each factor is given equal treatment 52,53 , despite the fact that their contribution to the development of chronic health problems is different. Nevertheless, such indices have been successfully employed to explain the risk of morbidity and mortality 3,4,54 . Furthermore, as this is a cross-sectional study, it is not possible to make causal inferences on the relationships detected.…”

Associations between Lifestyle and Mental Health in a Group of Japanese Overseas Workers and Their Spouses Resident in Duesseldorf, Germany

“…It is believed however that healthy lifestyles probably have positive effects on mental health which may be due in part to the positive effects of healthy lifestyles on physical health 1,2,4) . This however still remains to be fully understood.…”

“…The purpose was to identify lifestyle factors that associate with mental health. Lifestyle factors have been reported to influence both physical health [1][2][3][4] and mental health 3,5,6) . Although living and working abroad has been shown to be associated with many challenges that could adversely affect their mental health [7][8][9][10] , the incidence of mental health problems among Japanese overseas workers and their accompanying spouses is not precisely known.…”

Pathways from deprivation to health differed between individual and neighborhood-based indices

“…The SES gradient in health behaviors and psychosocial vulnerability is described in many studies, showing disadvantageous characteristics in lower socioeconomic groups [1,9e11]. The association between these factors and health has also been repeatedly described [11,12]. Strong evidence that both of these pathways contribute to translating social position into ill health comes from Whitehall studies [1,13] and the GLOBE study [14].…”