Perception of Lay People Regarding Determinants of Health and Factors Affecting It: An Aggregated Analysis from 29 Countries

This study aimed to evaluate the perception of lay people regarding determinants of health at global level and factors affecting it. Data was collected from International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and World Bank website. Multilevel regression analysis was done and lay people's perception reg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIranian journal of public health Vol. 44; no. 12; pp. 1620 - 1631
Main Authors Zahra, Aqeela, Lee, Eun-Whan, Sun, Li-Yuan, Park, Jae-Hyun
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Iran Tehran University of Medical Sciences 01.12.2015
Subjects
Alcoholism
Chronic illnesses
Education
Health behavior
Health care policy
Health insurance
High income
Infectious diseases
Original
Perceptions
Public opinion
Sample size
Studies
Variables
Determinants of health
Multilevel analysis
Tailored approach
ISSP
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Summary:This study aimed to evaluate the perception of lay people regarding determinants of health at global level and factors affecting it. Data was collected from International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and World Bank website. Multilevel regression analysis was done and lay people's perception regarding health behavior, environment, poverty and genes as health determinants was assessed. Various socio demographic factors were used as independent variables. The highest percentage of people agreed environment as determinant of health. An inverse relationship was observed between GNI quartiles and an individual's agreement with poverty, health behavior, and environment as health determinant. There was a significant negative association of females with health damaging behavior (P<0.05) and positive association with environment and genes (P<0.05) as health determinants. Elderly people agreed with poverty as determinant of health (P<0.05). GNI was negatively related to environment (P<0.05) and poverty (P<0.05) as health determinant. The common public is now becoming aware of a broadened concept of health and people belonging to different backgrounds have different perceptions regarding determinants of health. Our results show that highest percentage of people agreed with environment as determinant of health, which is consistent with scientific view of increased burden of disease, caused by environmental factors. Thus, tailored health programs and policies that address an individual's specific problems are likely to induce a change in behavior and attitude, hence decreasing the disease burden.
ISSN:2251-6085
2251-6093