Socio-demographic correlates of self-rated health among Santals of rural West Bengal, India

Year 2014, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 1 - 13, 01.09.2014

Bhubon Mohan Das Subrata K. Roy

Abstract

Objectives: Self-rated health (SRH) is considered as a subjective measure of health and
widely used in population surveys. The present study aimed to see the socio-demographic
characteristics and reported morbidity wise variation of self-rated health and to examine the
association between socio-demographic characteristics and self-rated health of the rural Santals.
Methods: Using a standard household census schedule socio-demographic data were collected
from 425 adult Santals of both sexes of Bankura district, West Bengal. SRH data were
collected asking people to choose their current health status within five possible options: ‘very
good,’ ‘good,’ ‘average,’ ‘bad,’ and ‘very bad.’ Univariate and multivariate forward stepwise
logistic regression analyses used to examine the association between SRH and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Majority of the study participant rated their health as
‘average’ followed by ‘bad,’ ‘good,’ and ‘very bad’ irrespective of sex. Results of univariate
logistic regression analyses showed that SRH has significant association with age group, level
of education, occupation types, marital status, house type, and sex. Elderly (OR= 6.78) and
middle-aged (OR=2.52) individuals were more likely to report ‘bad’ health compared to young
individuals. Participants with formal education i.e. from primary level (OR= 0.42) to higher
secondary and above (OR= 0.04) were less likely to report ‘bad’ health compared to nonliterate participants. Unmarried people (OR= 0.36) were less likely to report ‘bad’ health,
while widowed/ divorced/ separated individuals (OR = 2.87) were more likely to report ‘bad’
health compared to married individuals. Males (OR= 0.67) were less likely to report ‘bad’
SRH than females. Conclusion: SRH cannot be used as single item measure of health because
such rating is always influenced by several socio-demographic factors especially among socioeconomically disadvantageous community. 

Keywords

Self-rated health, reported morbidity, socio-demographic characteristics, rural Santal

References

• Anson O, Paran E, Neumann L, Chernichovsky D. (1993) Gender differences in health perceptions and their predictors. Soc Sci Med 36:419-427.