Lifestyle-related attitudes: do they explain self-rated health and life-satisfaction?

• Published in: Quality of life research Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 1227 - 1235
• Main Authors: Pickard, A. Simon, Jalundhwala, Yash J., Bewsher, Helen, Sharp, Lisa K., Walton, Surrey M., Schumock, Glen T., Caskey, Rachel N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer 01.05.2018; Springer International Publishing; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anniversaries; Attitude to Health; Attitudes; Depression - psychology; Female; Happiness; Health Status; Health Surveys; Humans; Life Style; Lifestyles; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Pain - psychology; Perceptions; Personal health; Personal Satisfaction; POPULATION-BASED STUDIES; Public Health; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Quality of Life Research; Self Care; Sociology; Visual Analog Scale; Health attitudes; Lifestyle; EQ-5D-5L; Life-satisfaction; Perception of health
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-017-1774-3

Background Strategies to improve public health may benefit from targeting specific lifestyles associated with poor health behaviors and outcomes. The aim of this study was to characterize and examine the relationship between health and lifestyle-related attitudes (HLAs) and self-rated health and life-satisfaction. Methods Secondary analyses were conducted on data from a 2012 community Wellness survey in Kirklees, UK. Using a validated HLA tool, respondents (n=9130) were categorized into five segments: health conscious realists (33%), balanced compensators (14%), live-for-todays (18%), hedonistic immortals (10%), and unconfident fatalists (25%). Multivariate regression was used to examine whether HLAs could explain self-rated health using the EQ-5D visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) and life-satisfaction. Health conscious realists served as the reference group. Results Self-rated health differed by HLA, with adjusted mean EQ-VAS scores being significantly higher (better) among balanced compensators (1.15, 95% CI 0.27, 2.03) and lower scores among unconfident fatalists (-9.02, 95% CI -9.85, -8.21) and live-for-todays (-1.96, 95% CI -2.80, -1.14). Balanced compensators were less likely to report low life-satisfaction (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.62, 0.90), while unconfident fatalists were most likely to have low life-satisfaction (OR 3.51, 95% CI 2.92, 4.23). Significance Segmentation by HLA explained differences in self-rated health and life-satisfaction,with unconfident fatalists being a distinct segment with significantly worse healthperceptions and life-satisfaction. Health promotion efforts may benefit from considering the HLAsegment that predominates a patient group, especially unconfident fatalists.