Self-assessed health and its aspects in the case of Mongolia

Amarsanaa Gan-Yadam, Ryoji Shinohara, Yuka Sugisawa, Emiko Tanaka, Taeko Watanabe, Maki Hirano, Etsuko Tomisaki, Kentaro Morita, Yoko Onda, Yuri Kawashima, Kentaro Toketake, Yukiko Mochizuki, Mayumi Nanba, Tokie Anme

Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/health.2012.47065                

Abstract

Self health assessment is a simple indicator that is widely used for measuring an individual’s perception of his or her overall health. Many studies have been conducted by way of showing which particular aspects should be included in health self assessment, especially in developed world. In the developing world, however, very few studies have examined self health assessment. The aim of this study was to identify particular aspects and associations in self health assessment and differences between subgroups in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The area sampling approach and Kish tables were used for selecting respondents. Total 500 respondents were surveyed by paper-based questionnaires. Spearman’s analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to show relations between variables. Sociodemographic status, such as age and gender, proved to be important in self health assessment. Other factors affecting self health assessment included the number of family members, daily life and lifestyles, social environment, community motivation, and utilization of health services. Women, the elderly, or people with less-than- normal access to information suffer from poor self-assessed health. People who are socially inactive and who have poor living conditions are less likely to use health care services and are likely to assess their health as “poor.” In order to reduce the poor self-assessed health status it is important to address disparities in socioeconomic factors, such as age, gender, employment, and residential area. In addition, more attention should be paid to community and health services, as well as to health promotion and empowerment activities, including income-generation activities. Further research is also needed, however, for better understanding of about the local people and their health-related issues.

Keywords

Self-Assessed Health; Socio-Demographic Status; Daily Life and Life-Style; Community Motivation; Social Environment; Health Service Utilization and Mongolia

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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