Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 4, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Democracy and self-rated health across 67 countries: A multilevel analysis
Patrick M Krueger1, Kathryn Dovel2, Justin T Denney3
1Department of Health & Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, CO 80217, USA; Population Program, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Abstract:
Existing research has found a positive association between countries' level of democratic governance and the health of their populations, although that research is limited by the use of data from small numbers of high-income countries or aggregate data that do not assess individual-level health outcomes. We extend prior research by using multilevel World Health Survey (2002-2004) data on 313,554 individuals in 67 countries, and find that the positive association between democratic governance and self-rated health persists after adjusting for both individual- and country-level confounders. However, the mechanisms linking democracy and self-rated health remain unclear. Individual-level measures of socioeconomic status, and country-level measures of economic inequality and investments in public health and education, do not significantly mediate the association between democratic governance and self-rated health. The persistent association between democratic governance and health suggests that the political organization of societies may be an important upstream determinant of population health.
Related Concept Videos
Dimensions of Health and Illness
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Strategies of Self-Presentation III: Self-Monitoring
Factors Affecting Illness
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness,...