Perceived Health as Related to Income, Socio-economic Status, Lifestyle, and Social Support Factors in a Middle-aged Japanese

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the association of perceived health with socio-economic status, especially income, and social isolation and support in Japan. The purpose of this study is to clarify the associations among perceived health, lifestyle, and socio-economic status, as well as social isolation and support factors, in middle-aged and elderly Japanese. METHODS: Subjects were 9,650 participants aged 47-77 years who completed a self-administered questionnaire in 2000 in the second survey of a population-based cohort (the Komo-Ise study). The questionnaire included items on sociodemographic and socio-economic factors, social isolation and support, lifestyle, past history of chronic disease and perceived health. Perceived health was dichotomized into excellent or good health and fair or poor health. A logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratios of socio-economic status, social characteristics and lifestyle in relation to self-reported fair or poor health. RESULTS: We found that household income, physical activity, sleeping, smoking habit, and BMI had a strong association with self-reported fair or poor health in middle-aged and elderly Japanese men and women. Male subjects tended to report fair or poor health as household income decreased. The results for women differed in that social isolation and low social support had a stronger association for self-reported fair or poor health than low household income. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that perceived health was associated with socio-economic and social characteristics among middle-aged and elderly residents in Japan.

Different Income Information as an Indicator for Health Inequality among Japanese Adults

“…We used current smoking and self-rated health statuses as health variables, because they were shown to strongly correlate with socioeconomic position in previous studies of the Japanese population. 14,[20][21][22]31,32 …”

“…Second, only two health variables were used, namely, smoking and self-rated health statuses, which are the most common variables strongly associated with socioeconomic indicators. [13][14][15][19][20][21][22]31,32 It is possible that other health variables show degrees of association with income indicators different from those in this study.…”

“…Indicators of education and occupation are generally associated with smoking and self-rated health statuses. 13,14,22,31,39,40 Social conditions such as marital status, living arrangement, and social support might be critical for both smoking and self-rated health statuses. 20,21,42,43 On the basis of our present findings, the independent and interactive associations of income and other socioeconomic indicators with health variables need to be examined in future studies.…”

“…In addition to total household income, equivalent income, which is equivalized by household composition (number and/or age of household members), is generally used. 8,11,12 Some previous studies in Japan applied total household income, [13][14][15][16][17] whereas others applied equivalent household income. [18][19][20][21][22] Information regarding living expenditure or consumption is another alternative representing living standard, and has thus been used in previous studies of health inequality and public health.…”

Association between social group participation and perceived health among elderly inhabitants of a previously methylmercury-polluted area

“…These previous studies reported socio-economic status, lifestyle factors, social support, and social network including family, friends, and social group membership as factors associated with perceived health [14][15][16]. Of these factors, social group membership was identified as a particularly important determinant of health for the elderly, intervention in which is an effective method of promoting health lifestyles among the elderly [17,18].…”