Social determinants of self-evaluated good health status of rural men in Jamaica

A comprehensive literature review revealed a gap in health research regarding the determinants of good health for rural men in Jamaica. This study seeks to fill this void by examining cross-sectional survey data to model the social determinants of the self-reported good health status of rural men in Jamaica.

A sample of 5041 males (> or = 15 years) was extracted from a national cross-sectional survey of 25 018 respondents. A stratified random probability sampling technique was used to draw the sample. Data were stored, retrieved and analyzed using SPSS for Windows 16.0 (SPSS; Chicago, IL, USA). Descriptive statistics were used to provide pertinent socio-demographic characteristics of the sample, and logistic regression was used to establish a predictive model for good self-reported health status in rural Jamaican males.

Seventeen percent of rural men claimed that they had poor health, 4.9% had health insurance, 61.6% visited a healthcare practitioner, 96.0% purchased prescribed medications and 45.3% completed the course of prescribed medications. The social determinants of good health status of rural men in Jamaica are cost of medical care (OR = 0.916, 95% CI = 0.841-0.997); retirement income (OR = 0.0.382, 95% CI = 0.206-0.707); marital status: separated, divorced or widowed with reference to those never married (OR = 0.270, 95% CI = 0.178-0.410), and married with reference to never married men (OR = 0.465, 95% CI = 0.356-0.609); health insurance coverage (OR = 0.041, 95% CI = 0.027-0.063); number of children in household (OR = 1.200, 95% CI = 1.069-1.347); and number of durable goods owned (OR = 1.107, 95% CI = 1.050-1.166).

Children continue to be not only futuristic assets to parents, but they also currently improve the health status of rural men.