Factors associated with self-rated health status in Southwestern Iran: a population-based study

This study aimed to reveal the relationship between self-rated health (SRH) and objective health status in the general population in the Southwest of Iran.

A cross-sectional study.

Data were collected by face-to-face interview with 3554 residents, aged ≥18 years, who were selected by multistage sampling procedure. Collected data included sociodemographic, SRH status, and medical conditions; chronic diseases and mental symptoms. SRH was indicated by a single question in five scales of very good, good, fair, poor and very poor. An ordinal logistic regression analysis was used. Independent variables were organized into four blocks: block 1, age, gender, marital status, education level, employment status, size of household and monthly household income; block 2, chronic or long-term illness (coronary heart disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus); block 3, psychological disorders (anxiety, impatience and sleep disorders); and block 4 (visual, skin, hearing and oral disorders).

SRH status in most subjects reported to be positive, indicating 47.3% as very good, 30.8% good, 16.2% fair, 3.3% bad and 2.4% very bad. In studied subjects, poorer SRH was significantly related to older age (odds ratio [OR], 1.01), low-education level (OR, 1.09), single status (OR, 1.25), monthly household income (OR, 1.21), more chronic or long-term illness (OR, 1.61), greater psychological health disorders (OR, 1.69), more dermatologic disorders (OR, 1.30), and hearing problems (OR, 1.47).

Results of this study revealed that subjects with worse SRH were older with low-education level, lower household monthly income, more chronic illness, greater psychological health disorders, and more visual, skin, hearing and oral disorders. So, SRH, as indicated globally, can be used as a population screening tool to identify subjects who are most in need of public health services.