Self-assessed health: what does it mean and what does it hide?

Area of Science:

• Social Science Research
• Health Economics
• Econometrics

Background:

• Self-assessed general health (SAH) is a widely used, brief health measure in social science.
• Its broad nature limits understanding of what specific health aspects individuals consider.
• This ambiguity can obscure important health determinants and consequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the specific health components most strongly represented by SAH.
• To investigate whether SAH conceals significant health effects, particularly concerning income.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Australian household panel data with a detailed health instrument.
• Employed rigorous econometric approaches to analyze SAH structure.
• Estimated causal effects of income on SAH and disaggregated health measures using instrumental-variables models.

Main Results:

• Vitality is a consistently important component of SAH.
• Other health dimensions are less influential in SAH assessments.
• Income shocks do not affect SAH but significantly improve specific, less commonly measured health dimensions.

Conclusions:

• SAH's reliance on certain health dimensions like vitality can mask the impact of factors like income on other health aspects.
• Understanding SAH's structure is crucial for accurate interpretation of health research findings.
• SAH may not fully capture the nuanced effects of socioeconomic factors on overall health.