Self-reported health in relation to medical health and gender-specific problems in women.
Self-reported health was studied in relation to physiological measures, gender-specific problems, and clinical evaluation in 61 middle-aged women employed in a male-dominated industry. Using self-reported somatic health as the dependent variable, 50% of the variability was explained by the dimension workplace culture and the ratio low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein. Some women who reported good health were diagnosed with distress but showed no ill-health factors. However, they reported experiences of gender-specific problems more often than the women who were diagnosed as being healthy. We concluded that self-report scales seem not to be enough to identify people who look healthy on standard health scales but who use psychological defenses. Differentiating methods such as gender-specific questions, physiological ratio-measures, and clinical judgment seem to be important for distinguishing genuine from illusory mental or physical health.
Bergman
B
B
Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Sweden. Bodil.Bergman@psy.gu.se
Wright
I
I
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010358:Patient Participation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D016387:Women's Health; D014931:Women, Working / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*