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Marital status, social capital, material conditions and self-rated health: A population-based study

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  • Lindström, Martin

Abstract

Aims Associations between marital status and self-rated health were investigated, adjusting for material conditions and trust (social capital).Methods The 2004 public-health survey in Skåne is a cross-sectional study. A total of 27,757 persons aged 18-80 years answered a postal questionnaire, which represents 59% of the random sample. A logistic regression model was used to investigate associations between marital status and self-rated health, adjusting for economic problems and trust.Results The prevalence of poor self-rated health was 28.7% among men and 33.2% among women. Older respondents, respondents born abroad, with medium/low education, low emotional support, low instrumental support, economic problems, low trust, never married and divorced had significantly higher odds ratios of poor self-rated health than their respective reference group. Low trust was significantly higher among the divorced and unmarried compared to the married/cohabitating. Adjustment for economic problems but not for trust reduced the odds ratios of poor self-rated health among the divorced, which became not significant among men.Conclusions Never married and the divorced have significantly higher age-adjusted odds ratios of poor self-rated health than the married/cohabitating group. Economic problems but not trust seem to affect the association between marital status and poor self-rated health.

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  • Lindström, Martin, 2009. "Marital status, social capital, material conditions and self-rated health: A population-based study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(2-3), pages 172-179, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:93:y:2009:i:2-3:p:172-179
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    2. Liu, Gordon G. & Xue, Xindong & Yu, Chenxi & Wang, Yafeng, 2016. "How does social capital matter to the health status of older adults? Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 177-189.
    3. Woojin Chung & Roeul Kim, 2014. "Does Marriage Really Matter to Health? Intra- and Inter-Country Evidence from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-10, August.
    4. Lumbwe Chola & Olufunke Alaba, 2013. "Association of Neighbourhood and Individual Social Capital, Neighbourhood Economic Deprivation and Self-Rated Health in South Africa – a Multi-Level Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-9, July.
    5. Han, Sehee, 2013. "Compositional and contextual associations of social capital and self-rated health in Seoul, South Korea: A multilevel analysis of longitudinal evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 113-120.

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